Coming up with 14-point charter of demands, the four left parties in Punjab — Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (Marxist), CPM Punjab, CPI (Ml) liberation — on Monday decided to intensify their phased struggle and hold a state-level mass rally at ludhiana on November 28.
The left parties are expecting to mobilize more than 50,000 people from all walks of life from all over Punjab for the rally. The decision to this effect was taken during the state coordination committee of the four left parties wherein Comrades Bant Singh Brar from CPI, Charan Singh Virdi, Raghunath Singh, from CPI (M), Mangat Ram Pasla, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, from CPM Punjab, Gurmit Singh Bakhtupur, from CPI (Ml) liberation, among others were participated.
listing out the demands, CPI (M) Punjab’s State Committee secretary Charan Singh Virdi said that the left parties were struggling on 14-point demands’ charter. “We are protesting against the black Act, ‘Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act, 2014, and asking the government to withdraw the same,” he said.
Besides, the left parties are also demanding withdrawal of property tax levied on urban properties, controlling price rise and to strengthen Public Distribution System, end mafia raj on trading of intoxicants, sand, gravels, transport, cable and land mafia, among others.
Raising slew of demands related to social welfare, it is demanding to increase the limit of old-age and widow pension to Rs 3000 per month without any further condition, curb growing atrocities against women, fix minimum rates of wages to Rs 15,000 per month for unskilled workers as per recommendations of 14th and 15th labour Conferences, allot 10 marla plots to every houseless person and grant Rs three lakh for construction of the house.
The meeting strongly condemned “callous and adamant attitude” of the Akali-BJP coalition Government led by Parkash Singh Badal towards the “most just demands like withdrawal of the black act” and other economic burning demands of the people of Punjab. All the four left parties have called upon their party units and cadres to spare no efforts to make the mass rally a grand success.