Workers are not machines to toil for 12 hours a day, says CPI(M) leader

We are in a system where workers are not getting decent wages on time, according to State unit secretary Basavaraj

Taking serious exception to the proposals and public discourse that suggested working hours to be increased to 12 hours a day from the existing eight hours a day, secretary of the State unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) U. Basavaraj has said that “capitalist agents” such as the Congress and the BJP are making all-out efforts to turn the working masses into slaves of corporate forces.

“We are in a system where workers who work for eight hours a day are not getting decent wages on time. The governments are now trying to increase the working duration to 12 or 14 hours a day. The BJP and the Congress, which are essentially agents of capitalist forces, don’t have any concern towards the working masses. They view workers as machines and not as human beings. They want to turn the working masses into salves of corporate forces,” Mr. Basavaraj said.

He was addressing a public meeting at Jagat Circle in Kalaburagi on Sunday. The meeting was organised as part of the 24th district conference of the CPI(M).

Training his guns on the Union and the State government for their “insensitive and cruel disregard” for the working communities, Mr. Basavaraj said that the governments have large tracts of cultivable land and they do not want to distribute them among the agricultural labour, Devadasis, Dalits and other working population.

“The Union government has over two crore acres of land and the State government has over 60 lakh acres of cultivable land. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah say that they don’t have land to distribute among landless labour. When it comes to big corporations, they themselves come forward to allot land at cheaper rates and offer huge concessions in a bid to attract investments. Mr. Modi has mastered the art of misleading the people with his blatant lies and falsehoods. He is hell-bent on serving his corporate masters at the cost of the interests of the vast working population,” Mr. Basavaraj said.

Member of the CPI(M)’s State secretariat S. Varalakshmi added that both the Union and State governments are in competition to de-notify government land for big corporate companies and stressed the need for a sustained movement to gain supremacy over the ruling class.

Party district secretary K. Neela presided over the public meeting.

Party leaders Shantha Ghanti, Bhimashetty Yampalli, Sharanabasappa Mamshetty, Sreemanth Biradar, Gouramma Patil, Chennappa Anegundi, Ambubai, M.B. Sajjan and others were present.

Earlier in the day, a procession was taken out from Lahoti Kalyana Mantapa to Jagat Circle.

Published - November 25, 2024 07:25 pm IST