Opinion Strength of the union

“With no stretch of imagination,however,can this be called a strike as it was the management which stopped the 2500-strong workforce from entering the factory from August 29 onwards till they signed individually what the management called a ‘good conduct bond’. This ‘fatwa’ was given by the management after the unilateral dismissal of five permanent workers and 18 trainees as well as the suspension of 26 permanent workers,” CITU leader Dipankar Mukherjee writes. Saying that no worker would execute such a bond voluntarily,he asks “under which law of the land can the Maruti Suzuki coerce its workers to become an unwilling bonded labourer…?” Further,the writer asserts the workers have the constitutional right to “form a union or association of their own choice.” Moreoever,“if the employers or industrialists have their own option to form the FICCI,CII,ASSOCHAM,etc,to represent their views,there is no law in the land which can deny the workers in Manesar unit of Maruti Suzuki their right to form a union of their own choice,whether independent or otherwise.”

“The present union is an independent one and the management had been pressurising the workers to form a union of the management’s choice,” he says. The article also slams the state government for allegedly aiding this “coercive action” by the management.

Poor reasons

The CPI journal,New Age,is harsh on the new BPL cutoff suggested by the Planning Commission. “Will the people below poverty line turn into those above poverty line by merely changing the definition of poverty? The Manmohan Singh government thinks so,” it argues,and that the government is merely pursuing its “anti-people line of thought”,trying to artificially lower the BPL line so that expenditure on various schemes,including the PDS,may be brought down.

The other purpose is to showcase the trimmed BPL figure as an achievement in reducing poverty,it claims: “For urban areas,the spending of Rs 32 a day translates into spending Rs 5.5 on cereals,Rs 1.02 on pulses,Rs 2.33 on milk,Rs 1.55 on edible oil,Rs 1.95 on vegetables,Rs 0.44 on fruits,Rs 0.70 on sugar,Rs 0.78 on salt and spices,Rs 3.75 on fuel.”

“Planning Commission suggests that this spending should be sufficient for adequate nutrition and keep people above the poverty line without the need of subsidised ration from the government. Let Planning Commission chairman Manmohan Singh,deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and other members live on the food items purchasable in the above amounts and show they can survive for more than three months,” it further argues.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.