Trade union strike hits normal life in West Bengal, Kerala

Kolkata Normal life was hit with air and road transport remaining disrupted in Leftruled West Bengal and Kerala due to countrywide strike called by the trade unions against price rise. Major private airliners on Tuesday cancelled over 170 flights from various cities to West Bengal and Kerala in the wake of the strike called by central trade unions, but national carrier Air India said its operations were not hampered due to the stir. Air operations to and from Kolkata were crippled as the private airliners like Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Jetlite, Indigo and Spicejet cancelled nearly 177 flights mainly to the two Left-ruled states. Passengers were stranded at Kolkata airport as public transport was also hit by the day-long stir. Air India sources said that flight operations by the airliner remained normal as it flew aircraft from Kolkata in the morning after the strike began at 6 am. The flights included an international one to Singapore and domestic flights to Mumbai, Port Blair, New Delhi, Silchar and Aizwal, the sources said. They said Air India had cancelled its flight to Kathmandu. Six flights on the ChennaiKolkata route were affected, airport sources said in Chennai. Officials at Delhi airport said there was no impact of the strike on any of its operations. Among the airlines, Air India's flights to Kolkata were as per schedule but Kingfisher airlines and Jet airways did not operate any flights to West Bengal. As many as 29 Kingfisher flights, that includes to and from from Kolkata, and 70 of Jet and Jetlite combined did not operate, officials of the airline companies said. Spicejet has cancelled 27 of its flights across India and Indigo did not operate 51 of its flights, DGCA officials said. The countrywide strike today took the shape of a Bangla Bandh here with the ruling Left Front extending support to the call. Shops, bazzars, other commercial establishments and educational institutions the city and the suburbs were mostly closed. State and private buses were off the roads. Roads wore a deserted look. Train and Metro rail services remained normal as they have been kept outside the purview of the strike in West Bengal by CITU, the CPI-M's labour wing. Train services were normal, but people faced trouble due to non-availability of buses. IG Law and Order Surajit Purakayastha said the strike was so far peaceful with no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state. CITU's general secretary Kali Ghosh said it was a 24-hour general strike in West Bengal against price rise and Centre's policy on divestment and privatisation.

The state INTUC distanced from the strike. "There is no question of supporting CITU's general strike. We are concerned about the interests of the industrial workers and their job security. So we will observe a strike in the industrial units only," INTUC president Pradip Bhattacharya said. CITU leaders said since this is the Ramzan period, they have exempted Muslim-dominated areas from the purview of the strike. On the frequent strike calls by CITU in the state, Ghosh said, "People face problem 364 days a year. What is the big deal with just another day. This bandh is also for a good cause." Trinamool Congress is opposing the strike. Party chief Mamata Banerjee has said a day's shutdown has a crippling effect on the economy.

Strike affects industry, commerce in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The all-India strike called by central trade unions affected industry and commercial sectors in Kerala besides disrupting normal life by creating impressions of a bandh. The strike was total in transport sector with buses, trucks and taxis keeping off the roads. The protest did not affect public utilities like power and water supply. Trains were running without any disruption. Shops and business establishments were closed in all cities and towns. Shifts in factories since mid-night was affected with workers staying away. However, the protest evoked no response in IT sector. Educational institutions were also hit by the strike, mainly because of the lack of public transport for students and teachers to reach schools and colleges. Police said so far no untoward incident had been reported from anywhere.

Agriculture union action against hunger in west Bengal

In 2001, the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (Rajasthan) filed a case in the Supreme Court of India (Writ Petition 196/2001). It sought the courts intervention in a situation, where, on the one hand, India had overflowing stocks of food grains, while on the other hand, people were suffering from chronic hunger, with reports of starvation deaths in the country. The Supreme Court has since given interim orders on the steps that the Government must take to prevent such situations of hunger and starvation. In the process, the Right to Food and in a more limited way, the Right to Work, has become the statutory right of the people of India. Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity (PBKMS), an agriculture workers union affiliated to the IUF, has been involved in the movement for the Right to Food and Right to Work since its inception in 1988. It has therefore been actively organising movements to see that the Supreme Courts orders are actually implemented on the ground. PBKMS is also a member of the West Bengal Network on the Right to Food and Work. Anuradha Talwar, President of PBKMS, has been appointed as the West Bengal Advisor to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court in this particular court case. In the past year, there have been reports of the crisis in the tea industry in India. In recent months, hunger has emerged as a major problem that tea workers are facing. The West Bengal Network on the Right to Food and Work and Anuradha Talwar, the West Bengal Advisor to the Supreme Court, in consultation with the IUF South Asia Education Office, therefore decided in December 2003 to examine the situation in North Bengal to understand whether these reports of hunger and starvation were true. The Situation The study trip revealed that as many as 22 plantations, 21,000 permanent workers and about 95,000 people have been affected in Jalpaiguri district alone. There is also wide spread agreement amongst political parties, trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) about deaths due to starvation in the plantations. Plantation hospital records, though not meticulously maintained, show a substantial increase in deaths after closure. A door to door survey of 204 households in 2 plantations done by the study team revealed an even more frightening picture with the average number of deaths per year increasing by 241 per cent after closure of the plantations. The study team also found that families that were consuming 1,200 to 2,900 calories per person per day before closure were now surviving on as little as 200 calories per person per day. It should be noted that a level of consumption of 850 calories per day is considered the minimum for survival. Case studies of families of some children who had died recently revealed that monthly incomes for these families were as low as 50 Rupees (US$1.20) per

capita. Discussions with many of the workers showed that they were finding it almost impossible to get any kind of alternative employment. Nutritional data on 144 children in two tea estates showed high incidence of undernourished children. There thus seems to be a strong link between unemployment, hunger, starvation and the deaths that are taking place. The study also looked at the role of the management in many of the plantations. It found that Management had defaulted on wage payments and rations for some months before they abandoned the plantations. There were cases of stripping the plantations of their assets before the management fled secretly. Employers had not deposited even the workers dues with the Provident Fund Commissioner, sometimes from 1997 onwards, let alone their own contributions. Large arrears in revenue payment to the Government were also detected. While the Government does not seem to have taken effective action vis a vis the management, its implementation of the Supreme Courts orders in Writ Petition 196/2001 have also been found inadequate. By the orders under this case, the Government is required to identify all persons affected by scarcity and to make provisions through 9 Central Government funded state government schemes for food and work for them. The study team found that though the workers were living in situations of near starvation, the State Government had not listed them as Below Poverty Line families, thus depriving them of many of the facilities available under these schemes. This especially meant that these families were not eligible for subsidised rations. Funds to provide employment and payment in food grains and cash had only been used in the closed plantations since October 2003, though the plantations have been closed for over two years. The State Government has provided 6 days of work on an average to each worker in the closed plantations under this scheme. This amounts to giving only 88 Rupees (US$2) per capita to the families. Till November 2003, 46% of the cash and 43% of the food grains under this scheme for 20032004 were unused and there was thus ample scope for further work to be provided. While the Supreme Court has ordered that cooked meals should be provided to all primary school children under the Midday Meal Scheme, this has still not been started in the 21 schools in the closed plantations. Supply of dry rice in these schools was also irregular. Inspite of the Courts orders, universal coverage of all children below 6 years, pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls under feeding programmes of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) was not there. Supply was irregular and in one ICDS centre, the team found that food had not been distributed for 254 days out of 365 days, or for 70% of the year. Three of the beneficiaries in this centre had died, probably of hunger during this period. The Government had also not yet started distribution of an Unemployment Allowance of 500 Rupees (US$11) per month per worker.

The Courts Action In view of the situation described above, the West Bengal Advisor submitted her report to the Supreme Court and asked for relief measures and payment of compensation for deaths and the suffering incurred. She also asked for punitive measures against the employers. The Supreme Court on 16th January, after receiving the report, commented that, the report reveals an alarming state of affairs. It asked the State of West Bengal to respond to the report within 10 days and to, take such action as it may consider appropriate having regard to the various aspects and incidents of malnutrition and other problems highlighted in the report. The Commissioners appointed at the National level to monitor the implementation of the court orders were also asked to, give their suggestions on the aspects highlighted in the Report, particularly, on the directions sought for in the report. Immediately after this order, there was a flurry of activity on behalf of the State Government. Major measures included: Orders that families of all permanent workers in closed tea plantations be treated as Below Poverty Line families, thus making them eligible for a host of poverty alleviation schemes; Beginning to provide all permanent workers and their families in closed plantations with 35 kilograms of subsidised grain per month; Beginning to provide cooked mid-day meals in all primary schools of closed plantations; Orders that public works were to be started in closed plantations so that workers received 15 days of work per month at the rate of 62 Rupees (US$1.40) per day in the form of food grains and cash; Expediting the process by which workers of plantations closed for more than 1 year would receive an unemployment allowance. The State Government however in its affidavit categorically denied that starvation deaths had taken place. It therefore said it did not think compensation should be paid. It also denied that it was liable for any suffering caused. In addition, it stated that, the matter regarding default on the provident fund by the Plantation Management is to be dealt with by the Regional Provident Commissioner of the Central Government and the State Government has no role in this regard. In the meantime, the Court Commissioners have also submitted a strongly worded report to the Supreme Court. They have stated that, we strongly advise the Honourable Court to direct the state of West Bengal to pay adequate compensation to the families where death has occurred due to lack of state support in the situation of closure of the tea estates in the state. Further, they have also asked for, compensation to those who have been denied their entitlements under the nine schemes, due to administrative negligence. The Commissioners have also suggested to the Court that the, previous owners assets be

liquidated to help disburse all wage arrears and payments due to the workers employed on the tea estates.

The Future
While the Courts action has already forced the State Government to take positive action, the struggle is still going to be long drawn. Firstly, both the State and Central Governments have denied responsibility for starvation deaths and have to date undertaken no actions against employers to enforce their responsibilities to tea plantation workers. This matter still needs to be pursued in court and outside. Secondly, from the few reports that have been received so far, implementation of the positive measures for the workers is proving to be problematic. The Government machinery is still moving very slowly, and there is a great deal of corruption in the distribution of benefits. Only strong monitoring by trade unions and other concerned citizens can help in this regard. A team with two members of PBKMS and one person from the IUF South Asia Education Office visited all important unions in the area to inform them about the orders and the follow up required. Both the IUF South Asia Education Office and PBKMS plan to continue intervention in order to see that monitoring of the orders takes place.