Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government as a servant of corporate masters, national general secretary of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Mariam Dhawale has urged people to get united and fight for saving their hard-earned rights.
“All the policies of the Union government are oriented to safeguard the interests of big corporate houses at the cost of the welfare of the vast majority of people. During the two years of the crisis caused by COVID-19, the working masses and even the middle class across the country were pushed to the brink. However, the wealth of Ambani Group in the same period grew by 350%. It shows how the Indian government is framing policies and taking action to safeguard the interests of corporate classes impoverishing the vast majority of the masses,” Ms. Dhawale said.
She was delivering the inaugural address at the State conference of AIDWA on Sri Guru Vidyapeeth premises near Kalaburagi on Monday.
“Attempts are being made to slowly destabilise and wind up the public distribution system (PDS), a hard-earned right to lead a hunger-free life, on which over 80 crore families across the country are dependent. Unemployment among women is a serious problem. The government is not filling vacancies in the organised sector, which is relatively safer for women. It is pushing women to work in the unorganised sector with no job guarantee,” Ms. Dhawale said.
Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, Ms. Dhawale said that the policy is designed not just to commercialise education but also communalise it.
“The provisions and the orientation provided in NEP-2020 are not just for commercialising education and making it affordable to only those who are financially rich but also saffronising it. Communal and patriarchal values are consciously pushed into texts and curricula right from primary to higher education to impart communal hate and nurture the feudal value system in the learning community. Those who attack Dalits and minorities are publicly rewarded and those who raise their voices against these designs are mercilessly pushed behind bars. It is essentially a totalitarian regime that has not allowed any democratic space to accommodate others,” Ms. Dhawale said.
National vice-president of AIDWA U. Vasuki said that the imposition of 5% Goods and Service Tax (GST) on food items is the first of its kind in the taxation history of independent India.
“The British had imposed tax on salt. In independent India, tax on food items was never imposed. Now, the Modi-led Union government has imposed 5% GST on food items. However, the GST on gold is 3% and diamond is 1.5%. It shows the government’s priorities,” Ms. Vasuki said.
President and vice-president of the State unit of AIDWA Devi and K. Neela, respectively, were present.
