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January 2010

EDITORIAL

Of 516.3 million working people in the country approximately 361 million reside in rural areas. Mostly unorganised, with low wage and working condition, they form the largest pool of working poor in the world feeding into the informal sector in the urban centres as well as to the informality in the organised sector. Their dire condition forces them to work under conditions that pull the labour standards down across the board. NTUI has resolved, in the Second General Assembly, to take up this challenge of organising with a target of building a membership of five lakh new rural workers in the next four years.

To achieve this, we intend to stress on the distinction between union building and political mobilising. Though, the left parties have been in the forefront of such mobilising of the rural poor, it has necessarily not been on the strength of a stable union organization. Consequently, these have not been direct interventions in production relations – a domain where workers have to directly engage, negotiate and struggle to restructure and transform the relationship.

More important, liberal democratic ideology subordinates class to an aggregate of individuals. In fact, democracy enables a process of agglomeration of individuals through mobilisation, without class organizing. It can even tolerate and adjust itself over a period of time to a multi-class social identity. Even if there is an initial resistance to such militant mobilisation of social identities, they are easily co-opted into the framework of parliamentary democracy, without directly affecting either the property rights or the power relationships constructed by them. The real issue then becomes the organizational basis for such mobilisation. It is the emergence of class identity, class organisation and class struggle that the liberal democracy tends to disorganise. And it is the inherent tendency of working people to self organise. Moreover, as mobilising aggregates strength at state and national level, it does not necessarily trickle down to an accumulation of power of working people at the local level and at production sites.

Feudal power in rural India rests on landownership and the institution of caste system. This severely restricts, if not undermines, the local governance structure brought by the Panchayati Raj Institutions. Land reform and land to landless peasants is surely a radical way of breaking this feudal power. But with class differentiation in the peasantry, inroads of modern and capitalist farming, fragmentation of land holding and slow diversification of occupation in rural families the peasant organization has weakened and made it difficult to mobilise all peasantry for land reform.

This necessitates an organization of rural working people comprising of rural landed poor (small and marginal farmers) and the landless. And this accretion of organizational power can be achieved by unionising rural workers around issues of wage struggle and other aspects of labour relationship.

Traditionally agricultural workers in India are constituted by two broad layer of rural community – one, the dalits, who were historically reduced to be the agricultural proletariat under the caste jajmani system and the adivasis, in subsistence economy. With capitalist encroachment, the adivasis have been dispossessed of their land and forest, and forced to migrate into mainstream economy mostly as agricultural labour. They form the core and the most oppressed layer of the rural working class. And two, the section of the rural population which has lost its land as result of the de-peasantisation process that is gradually forcing people into agricultural and rural manual work. Moreover, with the men migrating to industrial and non-rural work, there is an increasing participation of women in agriculture.

This social divide is also an ideological divide. The social cohesion of the class provides the foundation and strength for articulating and sustaining a common economic interest. This brings out the necessity of a deeper struggle for social equality and elimination of caste system and gender oppression. This has to be incubated and consolidated as an organisational culture within the union. For this we require the agency of the oppressed to both, form and shape such a rural workers union.

India is witnessing an uneven development of peasant struggles, varying degree of feudal power, different social structures and governance institutions and diverse language, culture and social history, and they together bring in a complexity that needs to be studied. Organising rural work is informed by such local specificity and learning to strategise through these complexities and they need to learnt from actual organizing effort in different areas. We have to resist the temptation, so prevalent in the union movement, of creating national federations without a strong and wide base of unions in different states.
With this broad perspective, the NTUI is evolving a three tier plan for organizing rural workers: one, building a core of district level rural unions that has paid and stable membership and striking power in districts; two, hold regional conferences to develop the first level lessons in union structure, ideology, campaigns and strategies for rural unions; and finally, wide consultations with other trades and political forces involved in agrarian sector to form a united national federation of rural workers.

SPECIAL FEATURE

ORGANISING A NATIONAL FEDERATION OF HOTEL EMPLOYEES – HEFOI

HEFOI (Hotel Employees Federation of India), an industry-wise national trade union federation of hotel employees, was founded at a Conference in Goa on 5 October 2007. HEFOI is a national federation comprised of unaffiliated hotel unions and also unions having affiliation to AITUC, INTUC, HMS, CITU, BMS, TUCC, and TNTUC. The federation emerged from the felt need of the unions in the industry for a common platform that would raise the demands of all the workers in the industry in a unified voice though retaining their political tendencies. Given the growing importance of the service sector in the national and the global context, it became essential to build national and international solidarity for this effort. International Union of Foodworkers (IUF) played a key role in garnering international support for the formation of the federation. The key demands raised by this federation were against contract labour, outsourcing, staggering working hours, to bring the hotel industry under the Factories Act and specifically, to secure a flat service charge to be distributed among all employees.

Hotel Industry in India

With the onset of globalisation and the boom in the tourism industry several multi-national hotel chains have shown interest in setting up business in India. Many foreign hotels chains like Le Meridien, Hyatt, have already come into the market. Domestic chains like Taj, Oberoi, Leela have also spread their wings across the country. The ‘Incredible India!’ slogan of the Government of India to promote tourism has acted as an impetus to attract foreign and domestic tourists and thus increasing the demand for better hotel facilities. Simultaneously there is a growing corporate need with the boost in trade and business.

Though a flourishing industry, the condition of employees is no better than in any other industry in India. Low wages, long and staggering working hours, insecure working conditions mark employment conditions. The inability of the employees to bargain for better conditions of work arose from the lack of unity among workers and almost complete absence of trade unions in the industry. Over 60 lakh workers in the country earn their living from Hotels, restaurants, canteens, small eateries and other services in the hospitality sector, and activities connected with tourism. This is also a growing sector. The task before HEFOI thus is gigantic. HEFOI affiliates today have workers employed both in ‘Star’ hotels and also other hotels.

Demand for a Universal Service Charge for Hotel Workers to Build Unity among Workers

In India there is no mandatory payment of service charge to hotel workers. In many hotels and restaurants, workers are paid tips by guests. Tipping is not just an undignified system but also has no standard. Guests decide random and arbitrary amounts to tip. Workers who do not come in contact with guests do not get paid. Hence a disparity is created among workers though in reality every worker has to contribute for a hotel to provide good service. This also creates a rift in the ranks of the workers which acts as an impediment in building unity.

The concept of a ‘Service Charge’ to be charged by the hotel and distributed among all workers is a more stable guarantee of additional income for hotel workers. In addition, a service charge system brings transparency and accountability to the various taxes and charges hotel owners impose on guests. In cases where service charge has been implemented, hotel workers have experienced a big rise in their monthly income.

In many Asian countries like Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka hotel impose service charge which is then distributed among the workers equally. This service charge system is a common practice in many international hotel chains, including those operating in India. Some Indian hotels too have the service charge system

In order to consolidate its gains, as an initial step, HEFOI decided to concentrate on a single key demand for a 10% Service Charge for all hotel workers across the country.

On 16 January 2010, the Goa State Committee of HEFOI launched the 10% Service Charge Campaign. The demand is for a 10% service charge to be paid to all employees in all hotels and restaurants in the state of Goa. The campaign was launched from Goa as it is a leading tourist hub of the country earning much of its revenue from tourism. HEFOI’s Service Charge demand is for all hotels in India. But the campaign has been launched initially in the tourism centres where the hotel industry is concentrated. It was decided that all employees in the hotel industry shall launch a united struggle till the demand for 10% service charge is achieved. It was decided that the Nationwide Service Charge Campaign will be launched through a one-day Dharna at Kranti Circle in Panjim on 22 February 2010. Hotel union activists from Kerala, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi will participate in the Dharna apart from 300 Goa-based activists.

However for the system of service charge to work, the union must play an active role in monitoring its implementation. This will entail that the union should have the right to check accounts in order to ensure that the 10% service charge is correctly calculated, distributed and paid on time. Unions will have to negotiate specific clauses in the agreement/settlement with respective managements that would determine the method of computation and the distribution of the service charge.

In order to achieve this HEFOI has conducted a series of training programmes for workers, held seminars as well as regular meetings in different cities. Grassroot hotel union activists have attended training programmes in Nepal, Malaysia and Philippines. Since 2006, World Tourism Day on 27 September has been observed as Hotel Workers Demands Day throughout the country with meetings, demonstrations, motorcycle rallies.

N. Vasudevan, Secretary NTUI and President HEFOI

AFFILIATE NEWS

‘Community Takeover’ of forest tract in Wildlife Sanctuary in North Bengal: 6 January, Alipurduar: More than 500 forest villagers “took control” of a 2985 hectare forest tract on the outskirts of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary in North Bengal by invoking their rights under a forest rights act. The villagers brought with them boards and nailed them to tree trunks, announcing that no one would be allowed to conduct any activity in the Kodal Bon Basti area of the wildlife III forest division without the permission of a gram sabha they had formed. They invoked Section 3(i) and Section 5 of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. The FRA is yet to be implemented in the state.

Photo: From NFF Coastal Campaign Webpage

One day Dharna in Delhi by NFF: The National Fishworkers’ Forum held a one-day dharna in Delhi on 11 December. The key issues NFF is raising include critiques of the Marine Fisheries Regulation and Management Bill; the Traditional Marine and Coastal Fisherfolk (Protection of Rights) Bill; and the issues around revision of CRZ regulations. Around 50 leaders representing the different coastal regions of the country were present.

NFFPFW National Meeting in Ranchi: NFFPFW organised a one-day national meeting of various groups and movements working on the forest rights issue on 30 January in Ranchi. The meeting focussed on the various efforts by community groups across the country to ensure effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act. These efforts have often faced tremendous opposition from the state. The apathy of the state in the implementation of the Act has proved its lack of political will to recognize rights of the forest dependent peoples and undo the historical injustice perpetrated on them. It was pointed out that the state is defying its own legislation by signing MoUs with various corporate for mineral extraction in forest areas, a trend that has been on the rise in mineral rich states like Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. The ground resistances against this so-called development have, in many cases, used the FRA as a weapon to defend what is theirs— their source of life and livelihood, culture and identity, despite increasing state repression. This state-backed policy to mine India’s forest areas is directly linked to the increasing militarization of those regions.

CAMPAIGN NEWS

CAMPAIGN ON TRADE

India and S Korea to double bilateral trade – Talks on expediting POSCO project amidst swelling resistance: 26 Jan 2010, New Delhi: In the wake of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to double bilateral trade between the two countries to $30 billion by 2014.

The POSCO steel project in Orissa was also discussed, with both sides agreeing that there was a need to expedite the project, which has been facing delays for three years. The Indian government assured South Korea the government is doing its best to expedite the project despite the struggles on the ground.

As part of this expediting effort, the Ministry of Environment and Forest granted the final clearance for diversion of the forest land for the steel plant on 30 December 2009. This is in blatant violation of the law, the Ministry’s own orders and the assurances repeatedly given by the Ministry. The area, technically classified as ‘forest’, proposed for the steel plant has a large number of people who have been living and cultivating the land for many decades, and who have claimed rights over it under the Forest Rights Act. Section 4(5) of the Forest Rights Act bars the removal of any forest dweller from their lands until recognition of rights is complete. Section 3(1)(a) recognizes the rights of forest dwellers to lands that they are cultivating. Moreover, sections 3(1)(i) and 5 empower the community to protect community forests and their cultural and natural heritage. Section 7 further makes any violation of these provisions a criminal offence. On 31 July 2009, the Ministry issued a circular to the effect that no diversion of forest land shall be approved without certification from the State government that the process of implementation of the Forest Rights Act is complete in the area. Moreover, the consent of the gram sabhas of the area to the diversion is required. The same has already been denied by the Dhinkia gram sabha and no further request for its consent has been received.

India-EU FTA talks amidst secrecy – Agriculture, Medicines, Finance at stake: 25 January, New Delhi: India hosted the European Commission’s (EC) trade officials on 25-29 January to negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement with the European Union (27 European countries) by the end of 2010. This is the eighth round of negotiations with the EC. Even as the texts and the content of the deal are being kept secret, at stake are major demands of the EC relating to Intellectual Property (IP), agriculture, agrochemicals, finance, banking and insurance sector and softening of rules relating to foreign investments and capital flight. In addition, the EC wants raw materials from India for EU companies leading to easier access to natural resources and land which will exacerbate ongoing land and livelihood struggles in the country.

Civil Society Groups Demand Access to Draft Agreement between Japan and India: 29 January 2010, New Delhi: The Indian government is also in the process of negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the Japanese government which is likely to have adverse impact on health of citizens and on the environment. So far twelve rounds of negotiations have been held to conclude a mutually acceptable agreement.

The proposed CEPA is being negotiated in complete secrecy with no consultation with the stakeholders. Several civil society groups have been demanding access to the negotiating texts with no success. Given Japan’s consistent promotion of hazardous technologies like Dioxins machines and its quest for garbage dumps in places which offer least resistance, there is an apprehension that the proposed CEPA would include lists of toxic waste that will be classified as goods or commodities. It will justify the definition of waste as non-waste through a re-classification exercise. Hazardous wastes that are usually categorized as goods are residual products, sewage sludge, medical waste, waste from chemical or allied industries, vessels, incinerator ash, oil-contaminated products and nuclear waste. Similar agreements with Philippines and Thailand contain provisions allowing the dumping of waste, which is typical of FTAs being negotiated by Japan.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST DISPLACEMENT

Supreme Court Ask Comprehensive Report on R/R within 4 weeks: 14 January 2010, New Delhi: The Tehri Dam case, which Supreme Court is monitoring came up for hearing today before a bench presided over by the Chief Justice B. S. Chauhan and Justice Deepak Verma. The Supreme Court is considering rehabilitation of affected persons and other issues after the Nainital High Court allowed closing of the diversion tunnels on 29th October 2005 causing submergence of Tehri town and villages around.

The Geological Survey of India in its report has mentioned about this phenomenon. The State of Uttarakhand as well as the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) admitted in their affidavits that the villages Raulkota, Nakot and Sanyasu are seriously affected and need immediate rehabilitation. The other affected villages, after survey may also need rehabilitation. But, for nearly two years, except for stating in the affidavit, no action has been taken by the State Government/ THDC. The Supreme Court noted that the State Government/ THDC has not complied with the orders dated 25.9.08 and 30.4.09. They were directed to file comprehensive status report on all the issues pertaining to rehabilitation within 4 weeks.

CAMPAIGN ON RIGHT TO FOOD

Thousands protest against GM food across the country: Thousands of people all over India and the world joined the National Day of Fast on 30 January opposing the introduction of genetically modified (GM) Bt Brinjal into the Indian markets.

Photo: Joe Athilay

GM foods like Bt Brinjal will pose a large threat to health, agriculture and environment, and they need to be strongly opposed in order to preserve farmers’ self-reliance and control over seeds and agriculture, and protect the consumers’ access to safe healthy food. Bt Brinjal is being developed in India by M/s Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Private Limited (Mahyco).

Following the large scale protests across the country, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has been forced to agree to hold national consultations with the various stakeholders before a final view on the commercialization of Bt Brinjal is taken. The Government of India has commissioned Centre for Environment Education (CEE) to undertake public consultations across the country.

NEWS UPDATES

PGI contract workers union end Hunger Strike: 9 January 2010, Chandigarh: The 24-hour hunger strike being observed by PGI medical technologists association and contract workers union ended on 8 January. The protest was launched by All-India Health Employees and Workers Confederation (AIHEWC) in support of their demand for continuation and enhancement of patient care allowance to Rs 3,200 at par with nursing allowance, delay in decision of the 6th central pay commission, pay anomalies and abolition of contract labour system in the health sector. Earlier, the workers confederation had held an indefinite strike on 23 February last year.

All Central Trade Unions to March to Parliament on 5 March; Left Parties Rally in Delhi on 12 March: Representatives of all the central trade unions will stage a March to Parliament and hold a ‘jail bharo’ programme to protest against the Centre’s anti-labour policies that has led to the steep price rise, loss of employment and contractualisation on 5 March. This is the first time that all central trade unions are jointly organising a protest against the government’s policies. AICCTU, AITUC, AIUTUC, BMS, CITU, HMS, INTUC, TUCC and UTUC will participate in this protest. The Left parties – the CPI, CPI, AIFB and RSP – have also decided to hold an All India Rally at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on 12 March.

Nokia holds decision on 63 suspended workers – Negotiations on to End Strike: 31 January 2010, Chennai: Work resumed at Nokia India’s Chennai factory after three days of strike by the 5700 employees in the operator and trainee cadres. But the status of 63 employees, who were suspended during the one day strike in August for higher wages, is still uncertain as the management has sought time to decide on their reinstatement. In its negotiations with the Nokia India Employees Progressive Union, the management has agreed to pay full wages to 23 of the suspended workers. The rest, whose suspension initiated the strike, in the first place, will be paid half salaries according to norms. The suspension and its aftermath however do not address the issue of wage revision that had initiated the struggle.

Tata Group flagrantly violates labour laws in the Indian Tea Industry: 15 January 2010: Nearly one thousand tea workers and their families continue to suffer in the tea gardens owned by the Tata Group. Workers at the Neora Nadi Tea Estate in West Bengal, went without pay, food and rations from 14 September until 12 December last year following a protest in August over the mistreatment of Arti Oraon, a 22 year-old tea garden worker who was denied maternity leave and forced to continue work as a tea plucker despite being 8 months pregnant. In response to the protest, management shut down operations for over two weeks, only reopening on September 8 on condition that 8 workers allegedly responsible for the spontaneous action be suspended and disciplined. When workers demanded time to respond, management again closed the estate on 14 September. It reopened on December 12 following a meeting between management, some trade unions and the Deputy Labour Commissioner. The 8 workers remain suspended. The workers have not received any wages or rations owed to them from the period of the lockout.

Fourth Nestlé India Union in Recognition and Bargaining Win: On 5 January, the union at Nestlé Pantnagar, the company’s largest and newest (2006) plant in the country, signed a first collective agreement on wages and benefits, joining its 3 sister unions in the IUF-affiliated Federation of All India Nestle Employees in finally winning the right to negotiate terms of employment previously declared “secret” by management. It has been a tough struggle since the Nestle Mazdoor Sangh was formed in March 2009. Workers have carried out mass protests and dharnas to counter dismissals, job reclassifications and opposition to the formation of the union. In May 2009, management suspended four union leaders a day after the signing of a tripartite agreement that ended a 4-day strike over trade union rights and unfair dismissals. Legal registration of the union was achieved in September. As part of the final settlement, management withdrew the suspension of a founding member who has now returned to work.

J&K Government Employees Strike Work: 22 January, Srinagar: Nearly 4.5 lakh government employees of the Ladakh and Jammu regions of Jammu and Kashmir struck work for the second day. All government employees and those working in public sector undertakings, except for the employees working at the Civil Secretariat in Jammu, observed the protest strike. The demands of state government employees include raising their retirement age from 58 to 60, release of arrears from increase in their salaries following the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, conversion of Cost of Living Allowance into Dearness Allowance for the workers of government undertakings, regularisation of temporary and ad hoc employees working in government offices and public sector undertakings. The day was marked by protests and rallies in all the regions of the state, while the police used force to disperse agitators near the seat of power in Srinagar.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS UPDATES

Chile’s Copper Mine Strike Called off: 7 January 2010: More than 2800 workers went on strike on 5 January in Chile’s Chuquicamata copper mines. The workers were seeking a bigger slice of the windfall profits with copper prices rebounding from a steep slump in late 2008. The Chuquicamata mine in northern Chile is one of the world’s largest open-pit operations and produces about half of Codelco’s output. Codelco – a state owned mine- is the world’s No. 1 copper producer and produces about 4 per cent of the world’s copper. The strike ended with a new wage offer that gave each worker bonuses worth around $24,000, of which nearly $6,000 is in soft loans and a salary increase of 4 percent.

Victory for Sodexo workers at North Devon NHS Trust: 20 January 2010: Following two days of strike action, 200 UNISON members working for Sodexo in North Devon National Health Service Trust, have won their bid for better pay and improved terms, in line with a national agreement set out in October 2006. The deal will cover staff working as cleaners, cooks and porters, some of the lowest paid staff working for contractors in the public sector. They will receive a lump sum of up to £3,600, as well as a salary increase from 1 January, 2010, and other benefits including sick pay.

Cairo Declaration to End Israeli Apartheid: More than 150 signatories including COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) and many other organisations from South Africa along with NTUI signed the Cairo Declaration of January 2010 calling for an end to the Israeli Apartheid at a meeting in Cairo during the Gaza Freedom March 2009 in collective response to an initiative from the South African delegation. It reaffirmed the commitment to Palestinian Self-Determination; Ending the Occupation; Equal Rights for all within historic Palestine and the full Right of Return for Palestinian refugees.

PRESS STATEMENTS

Kolkata, 14 January 2010: Stop Secretive Environmental Clearance for Haripur Nuclear Plant

The statement made by Jairam Ramesh on 13 January 2009 on meeting the West Bengal Chief Minister that the nuclear reactor project in Haripur in Purba Midnapore had received environmental clearance is not only surprising, but also un-democratic and secretive.

The Minister’s statement is totally out of sync with the procedures laid down by his own ministry. According to the Gazette Notification dated 14 September 2006 published by the Ministry of Environment, all nuclear projects fall under Category A. All projects under this category can be undertaken only after prior environmental clearance from the Central Government. Prior environmental clearances require fairly elaborate procedures, none of which were done for Haripur. Among other things it involves a public consultation where the concerns of local affected people as well as all other stakeholders have to be ascertained. The public consultation is to consist of a public hearing in the proximity of the project as well as obtaining written responses from stakeholders. No such actions have been taken in the case of Haripur. In fact due to the resistance put up by the people under the Parmanu Chulli Birodhi O Bheete Mati Jeeban Jeebika Bachao Committee (Committee against Nuclear Plant and to Save Homes, Life and Livelihood), no Government team has entered the area since 17 November 2006.

PBKMS protest against Nuclear Plant in Haripur

The notification also talks of making the Summary Environment Impact Assessment Report available to the public for public comment. The website of the Ministry of Environment has displayed no such report.

This statement of Jairam Ramesh is reminiscent of another such notification issued by the Haldia Development Authority in January 2007 which led to the spontaneous protests in Nandigram. PBKMS urges both the Central and State Government to learn from these experiences and to abstain from following secretive, non-democratic processes in projects that are effect lives and livelihoods of huge numbers of people.

OBITUARY

Jyoti Basu, the last surviving member of the CPI’s founding politburo, passed away in Kolkata on 17 January at the age of 95. Chief Minister of West Bengal for 23 years, trained in the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) tradition, he began his career as the founding secretary of the Bengal Assam Railroad Workers’ Union and it was from the railway workers’ constituency that he won his first election to enter the pre-Independence Bengal Provincial Assembly in 1946. Basu and EMS Namboodripad were both opposed to the split in the CPI in 1964 but soon after the split both joined the CPM as politburo members.

Basu remained the leader of opposition in the Assembly between 1946 and 1967. He became Deputy Chief Minister in the two short-lived United Front governments in 1967 and 1969. It was under his Home Ministership that in May 1967, paramilitary forces rushed in to quell the peasant uprising in Naxalbari. Though the CPI won a majority in the 1971 elections, President’s rule was declared in Bengal and thus began the reign of terror in Bengal led by Siddhartha Shankar Ray that did not even spare CPI activists.

The victory of the left-front in 1977 was a victory of the people’s movement, but it failed to usher in a radical change that the people had struggled for. The following 23 years of uninterrupted rule have been more to do with the mixed mood of people arising from the fear of a return of Ray’s repression and the limited success of Operation Barga. With the suppression of the revolutionary upsurge, Jyoti Basu carefully crafted the almost unassailable dual strategy of implementing the Operation Barga and the Panchayati Raj to appease the electorate. But he never went on to give ownership of land to the sharecroppers or use state power to provide infrastructure, investment and thrust to reorganise the rural economy. So, by the end of the 1980s, land reform in Bengal had petered out and in many places even reversed. More significantly, the left in power did not allow democratic people’s power to develop in rural areas, instead created a new kind of patronage channelled through the party system. No doubt, it had a broader reach than the Congress, but it restricted, distorted and resisted all initiatives of people and remained only as well-oiled electoral machinery.

Basu’s failure was starker on the industrial front. The left front initially introduced the policy of non-intervention of police in people’s struggle which resulted in the expansion of trade unions, more so, among unorganised workers. But, it too got incorporated in the patronage structure. The power of the working class was not used to induce changes in the firms. The power of the state was not used to put an industrial policy in place with a strong public sector. It did not even reorganise the sectors dominated by rent-seeking capital. Both, the industrial relationship and the industry remained trapped in low investment and low productivity. When finally the left front decide to push for industrialisation, it relied upon big capital. For all its left politics, it neither relied on people nor on state capital. It did not propose any notion of democratic industrialisation. The employment crisis was just waiting to happen!

Basu was instrumental in restructuring electoral politics in Bengal. He used state power to rebuild the party into a smooth election machinery fused with the state apparatus. We will surely remember him as the longest serving Chief Minister of a left front government who played a critical role in bringing together secular opposition forces both against the Congress and against the communal BJP. He provided leadership at the national level in the long and complicated struggle to eliminate the monopoly of the Congress party.

He continued to remain active in national politics till almost his death. He pushed very hard for the party to join the UF government at the Centre in 1996 but failed to convince the party. He declared this to be a ‘historic blunder’ but this subsequently opened up intra-party discussions that finally led to the change in the party programme over participation in the central government. He left the stamp of his parliamentary line deep on his party, without ever becoming a theoretician of that line.

It would however be naive to believe that the collapse of the party in West Bengal began with his ‘retirement’. He prioritised state power over mass movements. The fusion of the party with the state showed itself, in all its ugliness and brutality, as his protégé moved in, with the new party direction to build new Bengal with big capital strengthened by extra legal power of the party nurtured by the state. And when such a party is called out by the state to defend itself against its own people, it acquires fascist characteristics. Basu’s legacy, despite Marichjhapi, may be spared the shame of Singur and Nandigram but not for the sclerosis of the party.

The legacy of Basu will remain in many ways. More so, in opening up the electoral arena for the left, but never testing the limits or the new possibilities of parliamentary democracy. The left movement lost by the absence of an alterative experience that his regime could have provided, but never did. He remained a balancer, a quintessential centrist in the left spectrum.

Editor: Ashim Roy

Printed and Published by Gautam Mody for the New Trade Union Initiative
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