Under the leadership of the Mazdoor Adhikar Andolan Punjab and the CPI (ML) Red Star, rural toiling masses staged a powerful sit-in demonstration at the BDPO office in Nathana (Bathinda district), Punjab, raising their demands. A large number of women workers participated in the protest.
The programme began with revolutionary songs by Ajmer Akalia. Expressing their anger against the fascist Modi government and the Punjab government, the party’s state secretary Comrade Labh Singh Akalia and Comrade Nashtar Singh Ramnagar addressed the protest, saying that the fascist Modi government at the Centre and the Bhagwant Mann government of Punjab have completely shut down MNREGA work. The condition of the poor working people in the state has become extremely serious.
People are already distressed by severe poverty, inflation and unemployment. The Punjab government has scrapped the law
for an eight-hour workday and issued a notification for 12 hours instead—something workers will not tolerate.
The labour leaders submitted a memorandum of workers’ demands to the BDPO on behalf of the Punjab government. The speakers also stated that to benefit big corporate capitalists, the Modi government and the Bhagwant Mann government have abolished 44 labour laws and replaced them with four Labour Codes, which will only lead to further ruthless exploitation of workers by corporate houses.
The protest was also addressed by Bhim Singh Bhupal, Sukhwinder Kaur Sukhi, Harmel Singh Panch, Mandeep Kaur and Baljeet Kaur.
