Dec 14 strike: CPI-M says avoid public transport

New Delhi, Dec 13: The CPI(M) today asked the countrymen to avoid travel on railways and other public transport tomorrow in view of its All-India General Strike to press for acceptance of the Left's 16-point charter of demands, including legislation to provide social security for the country's 370 million unorganised workers.

Besides the four Left parties, other non-BJP, non-Congress parties including the SP, RJD, TDP, DMK and BSP will also support the strike, CPI(M)'s Lok Sabha floor leader Basudeb Acharia said at a press conference in the precincts of Parliament.

''Left MPs, numbering 79 in both Houses of Parliament, would not mark their presence in the register and forego a day's salary,'' he said, adding that they would also hold a dharna outside the Gate Number One and ask for suspension of the Question Hour so as to raise the workers issues.

Accompanied by party whip Rupchand Pal, Mr Acharia, appealing to people to forego travel to avoid inconvinience, asserted that there wil be no trains, no taxis, no bus, not even private buses on the roads.'' In response to a specific query, he said the workers in the IT sector will not be forced to join the strike. ''This is true of all the sectors. If the IT workers want to join the strike, they can,'' he clarified.

The Left leader said they would also submit a memorandum on behalf of of the Left parties, which demands a categorical assurance from the government that the profit-making PSUs would not be disinvested, as enunciated in the CMP.

On West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's appeal to the people of the state not to join the strike, Mr Acharia said this was his ''right.'' ''Being the CM, he is not supporting the strike,'' he noted.

Referring to the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Labour, which was placed in both Houses of Parliament yesterday, he said the interest rate on EPF deposits must be enhanced from the present 8.5 per cent to at least 9.5 per cent to benifit more than 400 million subscribers.

To a related question, the Left leader said they had already submitted various suggestions for resource mobilisation, which included widening the tax net.''We need an additional Rs 360 crore to give 9.5 per cent interest rate to the workers,'' he noted, regretting that the government has not paid any heed to their suggestions.

''The government could also recover tax arrears to the tune of Rs 1,20 lakh crores,'' he added.

The government had also not implemented the report of the Dr M S Swaminathan Commission on Agriculture which had suggested various vital recommendations to ameliorate the lot of peasantry and farm labourers, Mr Acharia said.

In response to a query whether the DMK workers would join the strike, he said that the trade union wing of the party was also a signatory to the strike call.

Meanwhile, All India Trade Union Congress national secretary D L Sachdev claimed that over 50 million workers will participate in tomorrow's strike which is against the UPA government's economic and labour policies.

''Workers from the coal, ports and docks, transport, steel and various other sectors will participate in this strike,'' he said, claiming that the strike will be complete in banks, insurance firms and other financial sectors.

The 16-point charter of demands includes removal of ban on recruitment, stopping contract jobs and outsourcing and no FDI in telecommunications, defence and retail sectors.

UNI