On 25th July, 2025 India witnessed Human chain of Pensioners throughout the country. They were registering their strong protest against the Validation of Pension Rules enacted by the Indian government to deny due benefits to the pensioners. The draconian act challenges Article 14 of the Indian Constitution and against the historical Supreme Court Judgment in Nakara case pronounced in 1982.
It was the first phase of Agitation called by Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations led by NCCPA. Tens of thousands of aged and even ailing pensioners participated enthusiastically braving heavy rains in many parts of the country.
In August, 2025, State level convention and March to Raj Bhawan will be held, followed by hectic campaigns and submission of memorandum to the Parliament members in September. Thereafter, on 10th October, 2025 huge march to Parliament in New Delhi and submission of memorandum to the President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Supreme Court also will be held.
AIBDPA heartily congratulates all our units for organising the Human Chain successfully. We also congratulates all the other organisations in the Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations and all the participants for making the programme a resounding success.
Now, let us move united to the next phase with added vigour and enthusiasm.
CHQ hopes hectic preparations are being made to hold the Human Chain at District level throughout the country on 25-07-2025. It is the first of the phased program of Agitation called by the Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations to register the strong protest of the pensioners against the draconian Act of Validation of Pension Rules. Almost all the Pensioners Organizations have joined together to resist the new onslaught of the Central government to deny the due benefits to the pensioners. AIBDPA units are requested to mobilize maximum pensioners for the Human Chain so that it is made a resounding success. Let us march forward with utmost unity .
The 11th All India Conference of BSNLEU was held at Coimbatore on 22-23 July, 2025. Com A K Padmanabhan, Vice President, CITU inaugurated the conference with an educative and effective speech covering the important developments in the country and congratulated BSNLEU for joining the general Strike on 9th July, 2025. Com. Animesh Mitra, President presided. Com. P. Abhimanyu, General Secretary and ComP. R. Natarajan, Chairman, Reception Committee welcomed one and all.
Com. V. A. N. Namboodiri, founder General Secretary addressed and recalled the formation of BSNLEU and its advancement through struggle. He expressed gratification for the formation of AIBDPA and BSNLCCWF at the initiative of BSNLEU. Coms. A Soundarrajan, State President, CITU, Chandeswar Singh, General Secretary, NFTE BSNL, M S Adasul, General Secretary, SNEA(I), Nithya Gerald, Joint Secretary, AIGETOA, K. G. Jayaraj, General Secretary, AIBDPA and Vairamoni, Treasurer, SEWA addressed the inaugural session.
Com. K G Jayaraj, General Secretary in his address explained the adoption of the draconian Validation of Pension Rules as part IV of Finance Bill, 2025 and the dangerous provisions arrogating extraordinary powers to the government to deny the due benefits to the pensioners. He also explained the various agitations being held by Civil Pensioners Associations at the initiative of NCCPA demanding scrapping of the Act.
The conference elected the office bearers unanimously with the following important functionaries;
President; Com.M Vijayakumar (Kerala) General Secretary: Com. Animesh Mitra (West Bengal) Deputy General Secretary : Com.Ganesh Hinge (Maharashtra) Treasurer: Com.Irfan Pasha (Karnataka).
The outgoing General Secretary Com.P Abhimanu is elected Vice President.
Com.V S Achuthanandan, fondly called VS breathed his last at 3.20PM on 21-07-2025. He was to attain the age of 102 in October, 2025. Comrade VS has served as Chief Minister of Kerala for five years and Opposition leader in three times. He joined the Communist Party of India at the age of 17 while working in a coir factory at Alappuzha and soon rose to prominence with his extra ordinary organising skills and commitment to the oppressed and poor workers and remained to be an ardent fighter for their cause till he was bed ridden.
He was elected a member of the National Council of CPI and was one of the founder leaders of the CPI(M) in 1964. Comrade VS served the CPI(M) as District Secretary, State Secretary and a member of the Polit Bureau. A severe stroke in 2019 compelled Com.VS to desist from public life and was confined to his home at Thiruvanathapuram. He was admitted to the hospital at Thiruvananthapuran due to cardiac arrest in June, 2025 and despite best efforts of the doctors he could not be saved. The unprecedented gatherings of tens of thousands of people braving heavy rain throughout his last journey from Thiruvanathapuram to Alappuzha to pay him tributes is really a testimony for his amazing popularity among the people. The passing away of Comrade VS is a great loss to the country and the progressive movements, especially CPI(M).
AIBDPA pays respectful homages to the departed Comrade VS and conveys heartfelt condolences to his family and Comrades.
The district conference of Durgapur has been held with good participation at TRC, Durgapur on 20-07-2024. Com.Bimalendu Bikash Shyamal, District President presided. Com.Sufal Chandra Das, District Secretary welcomed the gathering. Com.Asis Das , Circle Secretary inaugurated the conference and explained the current developments in respect of pensioners, workers and BSNL. He appealed to implement the agitations called by the Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations against Validation of Pension Rules.
Com.Dhanajay Ganguly spoke eleborately on Validation of Pension Rules and its adverse implications. Leaders of 12th July Committee, CGPA,BSNLEU and BSNLCMU greeted the conference. The report presented by the District Secretary Com.Sufal Chandra Das and audited accounts by Com.Dhurjhoti Mukherjee, Treasurer were adopted after discussion.
Office bearers were elected unanimously with Com. Dhananjay Ganguly (President) Com. Sufal Chandra Das (District Secretary) Com.Dhurjhoti Mukherjee (Treasurer)
Com.H S Thakur, Circle Secretary inaugurated the meeting of pensioners and family pensioners of Rajgarh held on 12-07-2025 to form the district branch of AIBDPA. In his address, Com. H S Thakur explained the functioning of AIBDPA ,the important issues of pensioners and the necessity to form the AIBDPA branch. Coms. A K Jain, Circle Treasurer, Rashid Ali, Balend Parsai and Shahabuddin also addressed. District branch was formed thereafter with Com. Bharat Singh Yadav (President) Com. Purushotham Rai (District Secretary) Com. Govind Ramji Kushavah (Treasurer).
More than 25 crores participate in the Strike action/Rasta Roko/Rail Roko all over the country in the formal and informal sectors, in Government, Public sector enterprises, and industrial areas. There were very large mobilisations in rural India and also at block-sub-division levels by informal sector workers, agricultural labour and farmers and other sections of common people. Participation of students and youth was quite visible in many states. The ranks and file of Samyukt Kisan Morcha and joint front of Agricultural Labour Unions played significant role in the mobilisation in rural India
The workers and their unions in Coal, NMDC Ltd, other non-coal minerals such as iron-ore, Copper, Bauxite, Aluminium, Gold mines etc, Steel, Banks, LIC, GIC, Petroleum, Electricity, Postal, Grameen Dak Sevaks, Telecom, Atomic Energy, Cement, Port & Dock, plantations, Jute Mills Public transport, transport of various type in private sector, state government employees in various sectors/states and central govt employees in major areas like postal, income-tax, audit and others went on strike. The workers/employees in most of the Industrial areas in the country including in many MNCs joined the strike in a big way and organised processions. The defence sector employees held protest demonstrations for one hour in support of strike and joined office only after that as per their decision. The railway unions mobilised and participated in solidarity actions in. The unions in Construction, Beedi, Anganwadi, ASHA, Mid-Day Meal, and other Scheme workers, Fisheries, Domestic workers, Hawkers and vendors, Head-load workers,Home based piece rate workers and Rickshaw, Auto, Taxi were among those who participated in strike and joined Rasta Roko, Rail Roko at several places. The students, youth, women and social activists also participated in processions and dharna actions in many places. The common people supported these actions. The markets were closed at many places in response to Strike/Bandh call
There was Bandh like situation in many areas of the country like in the states of Puducherry, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand Tamilnadu, Punjab, Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Goa, Meghalaya, Manipur etc. Reports of Partial bandhs were also received in many segments of Rajasthan, Haryana, Telangana,Andhra Pradesh etc. There was industrial and sectoral strike held in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Gujarat (the news from other states are still awaited).
Workers joined the strike action en masse throughout the country bravely confronting numerous intimidating and repressive actions and threats by the administrations, both of the Centre and many states and also the employers.
The strikers expressed their anguish against the anti-national policies of the Government to favour Indian and Foreign corporates and the international finance capital as against Public Sector Undertakings, Public services as well as against the small trade and businesses.The government through its policy of National Monetisation Pipeline(NMP)has put on sale the infrastructure, the natural resources and national assets which will jeopardize the self-reliant development of the country, posing threat to its Sovereignty. High time to oppose and fight these anti national policies, the agitators opined.
The people expressed themselves against the rising inequalities in the face of unprecedented price rise of essential commodities, rising unemployment and underemployment leading to desperation, increased suicides of casual labour and the unemployed youth.
The government has not been conducting Indian labour conference for last 10 years, violating international labour standards and continues taking decisions in contravention to the interest of labour force including attempts to impose four labour codes to favour employers in the name of ‘Ease of doing Business’.
The trade unions consider these labour codes as negation of the labour rights won over after struggle of 150 years from British Raj onwards. These codes negate our right to strike, make union registration problematic, de-recognition of unions easy, the process of conciliation and adjudication cumbersome, winding up labour courts and introducing tribunal for workers, overriding power to registrars to de-register unions, definition of wage being changed and the schedule of occupations for minimum wages applicability being abolished, Occupational Safety and Healthand Working Conditions code designed to put the right of safety of every worker and also rights and entitlements of workers in workplace in total jeopardy, the inspections exclusive putting the right of safety of every worker made in jeopardy, the inspections have been done away with and facilitators to facilitate employers is being brought, change in industrial code and its rule for increasing applicability-threshold from 100 to 300 would push out 70percent of industries out of the coverage of labour laws, the changes in factory act also would throw out substantial number of workforce from its coverage, giving the employers class wide discretionary powers to repress and exploit.
There is no labour protection, fixed term employment is fully devoid of labour law protection, unlimited apprenticeship and no compulsion of absorption is another way of exploitation, violation by employers being decriminalised whereas criminalization of trade union leader on the cards, the limit of contractor licence proposed to increase from 20 to 50, outsourcing and contractorization being made normal, recruitment of sanctioned posts not being done rather there is ban on new posts creation leading to rising unemployment, trend of appointments of retirees instead of regular employment to unemployed youth etc.
The unions are asking for immediate recruitments in the sanctioned posts lying vacant in all Govt departments and PSUs, creation of more jobs in industries and services, increase in days and remuneration of MGNREGA workers and enactment of similar legislation for Urban areas. But the government is busy imposing ELI scheme to incentivise employers instead, in order to subsidise their labour cost and informalize the workforce. In Government departments and in public sector, instead of providing regular appointments for youth, the policy to recruit the retirees on the one hand and appointing fixed–term/apprentices/trainees/interns in the core jobs on the other, is being brought as witnessed in Railways, NMDC Ltd, Steel sector, teaching cadres etc. This is damaging to the growth of the country where 65 percent population is below the age of 35 years and the numbers of unemployed is maximum in the age group of 20 to 25yrs. The government is making fraudulent claims on employment and provisions of social security. The existing social security schemes are being weakened and the attempts being made to bring private players into it.
The attack on the democratic rights as enshrined in Indian Constitution continues more vigorously by this ruling regime and now the attempt to de-franchise the migrant workers is being designed beginning with Bihar as immediate case. The misuse of constitutional bodies is rampant to suppress voices of opposition, the enactments in some states to control and criminalise mass movements is on the cards; the Public Security Bill in Maharashtra and similar enactments in the state of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh etc are the pointers. Now the attempts to snatch the citizenship is on the cards.
This is the beginning of the prolonged battle in the days to follow in the sectoral levels focussed on determined united resistance, again to culminate into a bigger national level heightened united action.
The unions in Delhi after taking out procession in industrial areas effecting strike held a public rally at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi which was addressed by National leaders of 10 Central Trade Unions Ashok Singh-INTUC, Amarjeet Kaur-AITUC, Harbhajan Singh-HMS, Tapan Sen-CITU, Rajiv Dimri-AICCTU, Lata Ben-SEWA, Chaurasia-AIUTUC, Jawahar-LPF, Dharmendra Verma-TUCC and R S Dagar-UTUC. The union leaders from ICEU and MEC, and leaders of AIKS and Agri-agriculture workers also addressed.
The platform of Central Trade Unions and Independent Sectoral Federations and
An online Circle Executive Committee meeting of Kerala was held on 05-07-2025. The meeting started with Com.K Mohnan, Circle President in the chair. Com.V A N Namboodiri, Advisor, though in London, managed to participate virtually and inaugurated the meeting. He briefly covered the important global developments , national issues and pensioners issues emphasizing the great threat in the form of Validation of Pension Rules. Com.K G Jayaraj, General Secretary presented the organisational report with special mention to his experience in the 113 ILC at Geneva, agitational programmes decided by NCCPA and Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations, Solidarity to the General Strike on 09-07-2025, case to be filed in the Supreme Court against Validation of Pension Rules, Medical issues, pension revision and the ensuing AIC at Coimbatore. He wanted to enroll more subscribers for Tele Pensioner.
Com.N Guruprasad, Circle Secretary presented the report for the intervening period. All the District Secretaries and most of the Circle Office Bearers participated in the discussion. Com.R Muraleedharan Nair, AGS and Com.M G S Kurup, CHQ Treasurer also addressed briefly. Both General Secretary and Circle Secretary responded to the points raised in the discussion. The meeting took the following important decisions;
All out efforts to make the General Strike on 9th July a resounding success.
Urgent action to increase the Tele Pensioner subscription a minimum of 25% of the membership in each district.
Make the agitational programmes against Validation of Pension Rules successful.
The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) extends its class-oriented, militant solidarity to the working class of India and the Joint Platform of Trade Unions for their nationwide general strike on July 9th, 2025.
This militant strike is a just and necessary response to the anti-worker, pro-monopoly policies of the Indian government, which seeks to impose the new Labour Codes that destroy fundamental trade union rights, eliminate job protections, and intensify the exploitation of the working class in favor of capitalist profits.
The corporatization and privatization of public sector undertakings, the attack on the Old Pension Scheme, and the deterioration of workers’ living and working conditions are direct results of the neoliberal agenda implemented by the Indian ruling class and its political instruments. These measures are designed to serve the interests of multinational corporations and the local bourgeoisie, at the expense of the rights, dignity, and future of millions of Indian workers.
The WFTU denounces these anti-people policies and joins its voice with the Indian workers and their fair demands for:
• The immediate repeal of the anti-worker Labour Codes; • The restoration of the Old Pension Scheme and dignified retirement for all workers; • The end of privatization of strategic public sector industries, including defence; • The protection of trade union rights, including the right to strike, to organize, and to engage in collective bargaining.
The strike of the Indian workers is not only a national struggle. It is part of the broader, international class struggle against exploitation and against the attack on workers’ rights and just demands. The militant spirit of the Indian working class is an example for workers all over the world who resist the policies of austerity, privatization, and anti-union repression.
The WFTU calls upon its affiliates and friends in every continent to express their solidarity with the Indian workers, by issuing statements of support, by organizing solidarity actions, and by reinforcing the unity and coordination of the international class-oriented trade union movement.
The strongest weapon of the international class-oriented trade union movement is solidarity! And the WFTU will not stop standing in solidarity with the struggling workers of India and with the just demands of the workers all around the world!
.jpeg)
