On March 18, a public hearing in Ranchi, called by the Jharkhand Mazdoor Sabha and CPI(ML) Liberation, witnessed hundreds of participants raising several demands: withdrawal of VB-GRAMG; restoration and strengthening of MGNREGA; scrapping of the disastrous trade deal with the US, with no mortgaging of Indian agriculture and national interests to US imperialism; opposition to the US–Israel war on Iran, support for Iran’s sovereignty, ensuring the safety of expatriate Indian workers in West Asia and the Gulf region, and stabilisation of oil and gas supplies for the people of India; and scrapping of the “labour codes of slavery” while ensuring full labour rights for India’s workers.
Activists from various ongoing struggles in Jharkhand participated in the hearing, including the Gondalpura farmers’ struggle against the Adani coal block, struggles against Bharatmala land acquisition in Khunti, anti-mining struggles in Chaibasa, as well as movements for employment guarantee, forest rights, labour rights, and environmental protection across the state.
CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, along with comrades Vinod Singh, Rajkumar Yadav, Dayamani Barla, James Herenj, Siraj Dutta, Sitaram Singh, and several other leaders, addressed the hearing. The Jharkhand Assembly has also adopted a resolution urging the Union Government to withdraw the VB-GRAMG Act and restore and improve MGNREGA.
