May Day: Workers take out rally in Fatehabad

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 1

Rallies and meetings were organised by workers’ and labourers’organisations in different parts of the state today to mark May Day.

The Sarv Karamchari Sangh and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) organised a rally at Bhuna town in Fatehabad.

Ramesh Jandli, district secretary of Centre for Indian Trade Unions , said the labour rights obtained by them after years of struggle were being snatched away by the Centre under pressure from capitalist forces.

Describing the importance of May Day, Jandli said labourers had started a struggle to demand eight hours work in a day from May 1, 1886, in Chicago.

On May 3, six labourers had lost their lives to police bullets while several others had been injured.

Subhash Baijalpuria of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh alleged whatever workers had achieved with years of struggle was being snatched at the behest of multinational companies and capitalist forces in India.

He alleged due to the flawed policies of the government, poor were being driven to poverty.

Other leaders who addressed the rally alleged that the budget for schemes such as the Intergrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), midday meals, National Health Mission etc. were being drastically cut to the disadvantage of the poor.

Ram Swaroop Dhanigopal, Madan Lal, Om Parkash Aneja and several others addressed the meeting.