Ashok Verma
Chandigarh, May 16, 2020: Five mass organisations of Punjab, Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Textile Hosiery Kamgaar Union, Pendu Mazdoor Union (Mashaal), Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Punjab Students Union (Lalkaar) have released a joint press statement demanding that centre and state governments to stop pursuing the anti poor, undemocratic and cruel lockdown and instead take realistic steps to handle the corona crisis on mass scale. Releasing the statement, mass representatives Rajwinder, Sukhdev Singh Bhundri and Chhinderpal Singh said that governments claims of controlling the corona crisis through lockdown have totally failed and infact this forceful, anti-rational and criminal act has made lives of millions of ordinary workers a great ordeal. This has greatly increased the already destitute masses chances of getting infected not just from corona but from other physical and mental diseases by leaps. On one side, the in hand, insufficient arrangements have wholly been channelised to deal with corona patients whereas on the other hand all other facilities related to other health issues have got completely disrupted. Hundreds have perished due to hardships arising out of corona lockdown. Millions more, suffering from poverty, hunger etc have been made to venture on road, making a journey of thousands of kilometers to reach their homes. People have started committing suicide. We demand that the vulnerable section of elderly and sick people, whose health can be affected due to corona, be given special care, corona patients be treated free of cost and steps be taken for mass testing and to increase the overall hygiene and immunity of masses through better diet and other provisions. The government should undertake the expenses in this regard. To make for the resources for this purpose, special "epidemic tax" be levied and extracted from the rich class. Organisations have also demanded that the entire health sector be nationalised and the health workers on contract basis be made permanent.
The organisations also demand that government should provide for full payment of wages to the employees-workers of all government and well as non-government sector, the losses suffered by masses due to irresponsible act of lockdown by government be compensated and workers forced to move towards their home on foot or bicycle be immediately taken by public transport to safety of their homes. All restrictions put on masses movement be removed.
The leaders voiced their opinion that lockdown has increased the corona crisis instead of handling it and moreover the government has utilised this crisis to unleash fascist political-social-economic attack on masses. The passing of black laws under the garb of corona, increase of working hours from 8 to 12 and to dismantle the right to form unions and writing off of capitalists loans are steps that will benefit indigeneous and foreign capitalists. Arrest of mass leaders, journalists and intellectuals are also an attempt to suppress the movement against undemocratic citizenship laws. The organisations have demanded vocally that all these steps be rolled back and appeal to all democratic and justice loving organisations and people to come forward against the policy of continuing with the anti-people lockdown.