IN response to the call given by AICCTU, union activists in Udaipur District held protests and submitted a memorandum on 26 June addressed to the Prime Minister to the District Collector. Speaking on the occasion, AICCTU State President Shankar Lal Chaudhury said that the biggest blow from Covid and Lockdown has fallen on workers, but there is nobody to pay heed to their distress. AICCTU demands that all affected workers should be given Rs 10000 monthly Lockdown Allowance for the Lockdown period, and rations and employment should be guaranteed for them. The Lockdown pushed workers into a starvation situation and the pictures of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometers to reach home, while battling starvation and thirst, tell a thousand stories.

CPIML District Secretary Chandradev Ola said that in the light of rampant unemployment, the wheat and 1 kg dal given as ration by the government is not sufficient; rations provided by the government should include other essential items like oil, masalas, salt, sugar, tea etc.

Present on the occasion of submitting the memorandum, AICCTU State Secretary Saurabh Naruka said that the Modi government’s open privatization drive in the name of converting ‘crisis into opportunity’ and the abrogation of labor laws by BJP-ruled States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh clearly show that the opportunity is only for wealthy capitalists and businessmen, whereas the burden is to be shouldered only by the poor and the working class, thus bringing unemployment to a peak level. The way in which the Central government revoked its order that wages should not be cut during the Lockdown period also indicates its anti-people and pro-capitalist attitude. 26 June is Emergency Day, and a reminder that in the 1970s the people of India united strongly against the Emergency. Similarly, the need of the hour today is for all people to unite against the fascist and autocratic BJP government at the Centre.

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Joint Left Protest in Uttar Pradesh on Emergency Day

On 25 June 2020, the eve of Emergency Day, Left parties jointly protested against the Modi-Shah-Yogi regime and demanded the unlocking of democracy and reinstatement of democratic rights. 26 June 2020 was observed Save Democracy-save Constitution Day by CPIML at Banaras, Lakhimpur Khiri, Lucknow and other Districts.