President's message on the eve of the 57th anniversary of ITEF.
Dear Comrades,
10th February is an important date in our Calendar. It is on this day in 1953 the Federation was born. It was pioneering efforts of the founders of the organisation. They travelled throughout the country, met comrades and persuaded them to come under one flag, to build a united trade union movement of the tax employees. They were dedicated comrades, with vision, determination, commitment and competence. They encountered insurmountable difficulties both from within and without. Quite a number of able and competent comrades followed their foot-step, suffered and sacrificed to build this organisation of which we are all proud of. We had been part of the struggles organised by the Indian Working class against the neo-liberal economic policies. We, in the ITEF can really be proud of what we could achieve on 20th August, 2008. Our comrades ensured that the total membership of our Federation participated in the strike. Not a single office of our department, of the 529 we had, opened for public transaction on that day, a feat unprecedented and unparallel. The 26th All India Conference at Chennai had mandated us to be in the forefront of the struggles against the economic policies. We strived hard and we reached the top. The Indian working class can be proud of the fact that their incessant struggles had, if not halted the unbridled race to liberalisation and reforms, certainly slowed its pace and we could escape from the terrific impact of the global financial meltdown. With the determined and principled opposition of the left parties in the Parliament, the PFRDA bill could not pass through the Parliament. We have aligned ourselves with the toiling and struggling masses of the country. As per ILO report, which appeared a few days back in the Newspapers, 51 million people have lost their livelihood due to the global financial crisis. We are not insulated from its impact. We have a large number of workers in the IT industry, and the global recession will impact their life and livelihood.
We are meeting in our 27th delegates' conference at Mumbai. Our conference begins on 10th February, 2009. All the leaders of ITEF will be at Mumbai. The ITEF flag which will flutter in the sky of Mumbai will be unfurled with the salute of our national and state leaders. That is a special occasion, no doubt. I shall plead with my comrades to ensure that the ITEF flag is hoisted in front of all offices in memory of the great services and sacrifices of those comrades, who built ITEF as a militant and united movement of tax employees.
The VI-CPC recommendations, in so far as tax employees are concerned, were extremely disappointing. The Department of Expenditure has refused to agree even to what we are legally and genuinely entitled to. Serious struggles including strike action will become inevitable. The ensuing Conference, the supreme decision making forum of ITEF, will deliberate upon this issue. To act upon the decision of the Conference would be our immediate task. We must be determined and confident and above all forge unity at all levels, for we must win this battle.
While I convey my best wishes on this historic occasion of the 57th anniversary of ITEF, I urge upon you to uphold the spirit of Unity and struggle.
With Warm greetings,
Yours fraternally,
V.S.RKrishna,
10th Feb. 2009. President