SPEECH

Vajpayee Government Flayed on POTO
Address by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on 19th November

New Delhi: The Congress president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, on 21 November came down heavily on the BJP-led Central government on the contentious issue of Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), combined with a note of caution on the Centre going ahead with the proposed changes in labour laws, sans consensus.

Apart from not consulting anybody on POTO, the BJP Government, adopting a similar strategy, is planning to bring in changes in labour laws, which might affect thousands, said the Congress president, adding the party will vehemently oppose such changes.

Mrs. Gandhi, while addressing a large gathering of the All-India Safai Mazdoor Congress at the Ram Lila Ground flayed the BJP-led Government at the Centre for not consulting Opposition parties before abruptly promulgating POTO and expressed her party’s ire that the same might be repeated on the changes in labour laws which it will oppose ‘tooth and nail’.

She said that the BJP’s economic policies have met with all-round failure, in fact, these are creating more unemployment belying their earlier promises on generating 10 million jobs a year.

Also coming in for severe attack was the BJP Government’s plans on privatization which Mrs. Gandhi said had ignored the interests of the public, adding "it was the public sector that mainly contributed to the socio-economic development of the country in the past 50 years".

With yet another note of caution, the Congress president, without specifically naming any party, said that some of these organizations are intending to split the country and society on religious and caste lines and people should not let this happen, she added.

The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Mr. Ashok Gehlot, addressing the gathering said that the State will give sufficient representation to the Valmiki community in its local self institutions and would make sincere efforts towards their uplift – economically and socially.

The Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, in her speech assured the rallyists that her Government is committed on improving the lot of the safai karamcharis including those not in the regular payrolls of various civic bodies of the Capital.

She said the City Government will soon set up a safai mazdoor corporation, besides that it has also agreed to extend cash grants to women of the Valmiki community to help set up small businesses.

The AICC general secretary, Mr. Kamal Nath, on the occasion said that the Congress was the only party that has stood in the past and will do the same in the future with the community, an effort put in line from the Nehru era to the present leadership of Mr. Sonia Gandhi.

The president of the All-India Safai Mazdoor Congress and MP, Mr. Buta Singh said, the BJP’s anti-labour policies had absolutely compromised on the core national values of secularism, socialism and non-alignment in foreign affairs.

Mr. Buta Singh declared the resolve of the mazdoor Congress to launch a Rashtriya Satyagraha with a view to protect the rights of safai workers while castigating the BJP Government for amending drastically the Indian Contracted Labour Act, 1970 which was passed by the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

But here too the Government of the day did not consult either the major political parties or the recognized labour unions and these amendments are most detrimental to the unorganized labourers of the country.