The Union Budget 2026–27 presented by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman appears inconsequential and directionless, even as the Economic Survey 2025–26 itself acknowledges that the Indian economy has reached a critical juncture, with the global environment undergoing geopolitical realignments that will influence investment flows, supply chains, and growth prospects for years to come. The Budget neither addresses these core challenges nor offers any meaningful policy shift to prepare India for the turbulent global situation.

As consistently warned by CITU and other Central Trade Unions, both the Economic Survey and the Budget seek to manage the crisis of the global capitalist order by shifting its burden onto the working class and the common people. The so-called reform agenda continues to centre on the notification of anti-worker Labour Codes and the dilution of quality control norms, undermining labour rights and domestic industry. The Budget speech began with rhetoric on “Yuva Shakti” but ended with a proposal for a high-powered “Education to Employment and Enterprise” Standing Committee with targets extending up to 2047. The youth of India need decent and secure employment now, not distant promises.

The Finance Minister’s record ninth consecutive Budget serves as a numerical façade concealing an economy in deep distress. In its pursuit of a 4.3 per cent fiscal deficit target and a reduction of the debt-to-GDP ratio to 55.6 per cent, the government has placed macro-fiscal optics above the pressing realities of hunger and unemployment. This is a squeeze Budget that withdraws liquidity from the hands of the poor; despite a total expenditure of ₹53.5 lakh crore, the real picture reveals a systematic erosion of social support.

There is no serious attempt to raise revenue by taxing highly profitable corporates. Instead, a 12.49 per cent rise in non-tax revenue in 2026–27 is driven mainly by a projected 16.9 per cent increase in dividends from PSUs, effectively squeezing them and pushing them into competition with private players rather than strengthening public assets. Increasing dependence on non-tax revenue will be finally instrumental for increasing burden and squeeze on people. The 49.5 per cent jump in external grants between BE 2025–26 and BE 2026–27 raises concerns over policy autonomy, fiscal sustainability, and exposure to external pressures. Increasing burden of debt servicing and interest liabilities has been forcing atrocious cut in development and welfare related budget allocations as visible in this budget also.

The Budget is a blatant gift to the billionaire class. The Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) has been reduced from 15 per cent to 14 per cent, corporate safe-harbour provisions have been expanded, and the timeline for Advanced Pricing Agreements (APAs) has been shortened to two years, easing scrutiny of multinational corporations. Meanwhile, the common people face a ₹28.7 lakh crore net tax burden driven by regressive GST and personal income tax. For the first time, personal income tax collections (₹14.66 lakh crore) exceed corporate tax collections (₹12.31 lakh crore).

Further concessions include a five-year tax holiday for non-residents supplying capital goods to toll manufacturers in bonded zones and customs duty waivers on raw materials for aircraft parts and critical medical components for private manufacturers—socialising risks while privatising profits. The budget has furthered its decriminalization process for the tax evaders and corporates in the guise of ease of business.

The target of ₹80,000 crore worth of disinvestment and the deceptive claim of ease of living through the reduction of import duty from 20 per cent to 10 per cent on goods for personal use have been announced, while the flagship programme, PM Vishwakarma Yojana, has witnessed a reduced allocation—from ₹3,993 crore in the 2024–25 actuals to ₹3,891 crore.

The Budget serves the corporate classes by further expanding and increasing allocations for incentives. The Electronics Components Manufacturing Subsidy 2.0, with an outlay of ₹40,000 crore, the customs duty exemption on imports for nuclear power projects until 2035, and the tax holiday for foreign companies investing in data centres until 2047 clearly demonstrate the pro-corporate priorities of the government.

The allocation in Railway promotes elitification, pouring resources into seven high-speed rail corridors such as Mumbai–Pune and Hyderabad–Chennai, while ordinary passengers endure overcrowded coaches and senior citizen concessions remain unrestored. Telecom infrastructure allocations for private service providers have surged from ₹9,650 crore to ₹24,000 crore, directly subsidising private players. Despite tall claims on AI and innovation, allocations for India’s AI Mission have been slashed from ₹2,000 crore to ₹1,000 crore.

Increased capital expenditure is being financed through aggressive asset monetisation and privatisation via InvITs, REITs, NIIF, NaBFID, and proposed public-asset-specific REITs. This reflects a two-pronged strategy: extracting higher dividends from PSUs to plug fiscal gaps and handing over public assets to private corporates for profit.

While infrastructure spending has risen in defence, metro, maritime sectors, and railways, increased leasing of railway assets signals further monetisation. The proposed Rare Earth Corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu under a ₹7,280 crore magnet scheme threaten the displacement of tribal communities and environmental destruction. The ₹10 lakh crore asset-recycling roadmap over five years amounts to a fire sale of CPSE land and infrastructure. Health allocation stands at a meagre ₹1.01 lakh crore, only 1.96 per cent of total expenditure, while “Biopharma Shakti” of ₹10,000 crore has been created as a grant to big pharma.

Although the budget is presented as a landmark initiative for supporting MSMEs, in reality, the actual increase in budgetary allocations for MSMEs appears to be narrowly oriented towards activities which are largely situated at the lower end of production hierarchies. On the other hand, the government has allowed SEZ units to sell in the Domestic Tariff Area at concessional duties, undermining domestic firms. This reveals a consistent policy of shielding capital from risk while leaving labour unprotected.

Agriculture-related schemes such as PMKSY, RKVY, PM-Kisan, and crop insurance show no real increase after adjusting for inflation, despite the deepening agrarian crisis. Fertiliser allocations have been cut by 8.4 per cent, while food subsidy allocations remain stagnant. Claims of boosting agricultural productivity are therefore misleading. There is no increase in allocation for the basic services schemes, resulting in no scope of improvement either in the services or the wages and conditions of the scheme workers.

Welfare allocations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, North-Eastern regions, agriculture, rural development, education, health, and social welfare have been cut. The Gender Budget has been reduced by ₹51,144 crore. Urban development allocations have fallen by 13.16 per cent despite claims of promoting city economic regions.

Though allocations for energy and nuclear research have increased, these are clearly aimed at facilitating private entry rather than strengthening public research, with private sector entry into nuclear power at the core of this policy. Despite higher R&D spending under RDI and BIO-RIDE, allocations for public sector manufacturing, solar power, and PSU investment have declined or stagnated, even as schemes such as KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana have seen manifold increases, indicating indirect subsidisation of private capital.

The stagnation of employment in the formal sectors has pushed millions into insecure gig work. Despite repeated references in the Economic Survey, the Budget provides no allocation for gig workers’ welfare and fails to honour even existing commitments, let alone provide legal recognition. Similarly, no budgetary allocation has been made for the other sections of the unorganized workers.

This is a completely anti-people and anti-working-class Budget at a time when Indian workers are struggling to survive amid economic turmoil. The Budget provides grants to private corporates while betraying the interests of the people. It is promoting de-growth in real terms and further worsen distributive equity in the already prevailing obscene inequality scenario.

CITU unequivocally rejects this anti-worker, pro-corporate Budget and calls upon the working people of India to intensify united resistance against these policies, to come onto the streets, and to march towards the 12 February General Strike.

Issued by   

Elamaram Kareem
General Secretary

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) welcomes the Supreme Court verdict recognising the right to menstrual hygiene. On 29 January 2026, the Supreme Court issued directives to ensure free access to sanitary pads and separate, gender-segregated toilets with usable water connectivity for girls studying in Classes VI to XII in all schools across the country.

In response to a plea filed by Dr Jaya Thakur, a social activist, the Court further ordered the establishment of Menstrual Health Management (MHM) Corners equipped with spare uniforms, innerwear, and disposal bags to address menstruation-related exigencies faced by girls. The directive forms part of a comprehensive judgment directing all States and Union Territories to ensure that “all existing and newly constructed toilets in schools shall be designed, constructed, and maintained so as to ensure privacy and accessibility, including by catering to the needs of children with disabilities. All school toilets shall be equipped with functional hand-washing facilities with soap and water available at all times.”

Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan have acknowledged that menstrual hygiene is not merely a health issue, but a fundamental component of the Right to Life (Article 21) and the Right to Education (Article 21A), in addition to the Right to Equality (Article 14), which is reflected through the right to participate on equal terms.

According to various studies, 23 per cent of rural girls drop out of school upon reaching puberty. Nearly 23 million girls drop out of school every year not because they do not wish to continue their education, but because their schools lack changing rooms, toilets with water, and cleaning facilities. They also lack access to menstrual hygiene products such as sanitary pads. Social stigma and taboos surrounding menstruation, as well as harassment by fellow students, further contribute to school dropouts. Even girls who continue schooling tend to miss classes during menstruation every month, resulting in the loss of 10 to 20 per cent of school days annually. This has serious adverse impacts on their education. School dropouts also lead to an increase in child labour and child marriage.

It is in this context that CITU welcomes the Supreme Court directive, which can play a significant role in reducing the dropout rate of girls from schools. If implemented effectively, it can also strengthen efforts to improve menstrual hygiene and reproductive health among adolescent girls. As rightly directed by the Court, conducting awareness and training programmes on menstrual hygiene and adolescent health is equally vital.

In some States, such as Kerala, educational institutions provide menstrual leave to girl students. The demands raised by the All-India Coordination Committee of Working Women (CITU) for two days of menstrual leave per month and the installation of sanitary pad vending machines at workplaces and higher educational institutions stand vindicated by the Supreme Court verdict. At the same time, a strong socio-cultural struggle must be waged against all taboos related to menstruation.

CITU calls upon the working class in general, and working women in particular, to actively take up the issue of implementation of the Supreme Court’s directions and to continue campaigns and struggles in support of the rights of girl children and working women.

Issued by

Elamaram Kareem

General Secretary

CITU expresses its deep concern over the most unfortunate and unconstitutional statement made by the Chief Justice of India on 29 January 2026 while hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in Penn Thozhilalargal Sangam vs Union of India (W.P.(C) No. 42/2026). Unfortunately, the words of the CJI appeared to resemble those of the advocates of already failed neoliberal policies. It is further embarrassing that the rationale advanced in the statement has neither theoretical soundness nor empirical validity. On the other hand, there exist hundreds of examples which show that organised and protected labour actually contributes more to the growth of productivity.

The statement came at a time when the country is moving towards the 12 February General Strike called by the joint platform of almost the entire trade union movement against the imposition of the Labour Codes. The Labour Codes are designed with the perspective that weakening the right to unionisation and leaving workers defenceless before the attacks of the employer class is the only way towards Ease of Doing Business. The Indian working class has resolutely established the inappropriateness, rather the impropriety, of this theory. Regrettably, the statement of the CJI resembled the political-economic illogic of the Modi Government.

CITU points out that such a statement, particularly from the custodian of the Constitution, undermines the fundamental constitutional right to association. The insinuating remark that trade union leaders are largely responsible for stopping industrial growth in the country can in no way be substantiated by facts on the ground. However, the right to association for Indian workers is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(c) of the Indian Constitution. This right is regulated by the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (together with subsequent amendments), which provides for registration and legal immunity for union activities. It enables collective bargaining and representation of workers’ interests.

Be it the four labour codes, the Shram Shakti Niti, the dismantling of MGNREGA, various incentive programmes, or legislations accelerating the expropriation of the country’s resources for private gains — all form part of the aggressive restructuring of the Indian state in favour of capital and the fast-withering away of the welfare state as envisaged in the Indian Constitution. The statement exposes the changing nature of the Indian state in a very dangerous manner.

As far as the CJI’s statement blaming trade unions for industrial closures is concerned, it is totally divorced from factual reality. The Labour Bureau’s reports on “Industrial Disputes, Closures, Retrenchments, and Lay-offs in India” are the most comprehensive and objective sources of data on the matter. A closer look at the data reveals a significant decline in industrial disputes, reaching a 17-year low in 2023, with only 30 disputes reported by September 2023. This marks a stark contrast to 2006, which saw the highest number of disputes at 430, followed by 421 in 2008 and 389 in 2007.

From 2006 to 2014, the average number of industrial disputes was 354, but this figure dropped sharply to just 76 between 2015 and 2023. In fact, the total number of industrial disputes has been less than 100 each year since 2018. Moreover, the phenomenon of industrial closures, both legal and illegal, across the states of the country, if examined closely, would reveal that the incidence of closures is much higher in states where the trade union movement is visibly weak or minimal.

Conversely, in a recent written response in the Lok Sabha, the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, Harsh Malhotra, stated that 2,04,268 private companies were closed over five years due to amalgamation, conversion, dissolution, or being struck off under the Companies Act, 2013. Further, the figures of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) also vindicate the nature and reasons for the closure of industries and the percentage of recovery of debts by creditor public sector banks.

Hence, contrary to the illogical claims of neoliberal apologists, it is not industrial disputes by trade unions that are forcing industrial units to close down. On the contrary, it is the crisis within the capitalist neoliberal order and the unbridled concentration and financialisation of the economy, at the cost of the MSME and the productive sector as a whole, that have led to increasing industrial closures. Trade unions can in no way be made a scapegoat to cover up the failure of the policy regime and economic governance.

The Hon’ble CJI also ridiculed the plea for minimum wages for domestic workers, whereas in many states scheduled minimum wages for domestic workers are already in operation. CITU urges the CJI to review and reconsider the statement.

CITU reaffirms that the upcoming 12 February General Strike, called by the central trade unions and supported by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and the platform of unions of agricultural and rural workers, is not only to defend the hard-earned rights of the Indian people but also to defend and save the national economy from a perverse economic order and governance. The working class has never received anything through the benevolence of institutions or governments; it is only through struggles and sacrifices that rights have been earned and defended, not only for workers but for the people and society as a whole.

Issued by,
(Elamaram Kareem)
General Secretary.

Arrest ‘Wow! Momo’ Owners; Take Judicial Action against the Government Officials Responsible for this Brutal Massacre!

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) expresses its deepest grief and boiling rage over the horrific fire that broke out at the Najirabad warehouse complex in Anandapur, Kolkata, on January 26, 2026. This is not a ‘natural disaster’ or a ‘mere accident’; it is a cold-blooded institutional murder of the workers, born out of a criminal nexus between greedy corporates and a complicit state administration run by the Trinamool Congress.

As of 29 January 2026, the death toll has tragically climbed to 21 charred bodies, with nearly 28 workers still missing, most of whom were migrant workers from districts like Purba Medinipur, forced to use the warehouse as a makeshift night shelter. The real death toll may be much higher, and there exists every possibility that the State Government will try to suppress the numbers.

The workers were locked in from the outside during their rest hours and could not come out of the warehouse after the fire broke out. This is a chilling hallmark of modern-day slavery and a direct consequence of the predatory practices of brands like ‘Wow! Momo’.

This tragedy exposes a systemic pattern wherein such brands build their empires by flagrantly violating all labour laws, showing total disregard for regulated working hours, overtime compensation, and the right to association. By stripping workers of their social security protections, including their fundamental rights to ESI and Provident Fund, they have left families without a safety net, all while forcing employees to operate in death traps devoid of fire extinguishers, emergency exits, or basic ventilation.

CITU raises a piercing question to the TMC-run state government — why, even after three days of this carnage, have the owners of the ‘Wow! Momo’ brand not been arrested? Why do the billionaire owners of this food giant remain free, shielded by their proximity to the corridors of power of the TMC government?

This tragedy is the direct result of the TMC government’s active complicity in allowing industrial giants to landfill and encroach upon the protected lowlands and wetlands of the East Kolkata Wetlands, bypassing every environmental norm. The State Labour Department’s criminal callousness is on full display; by intentionally failing to conduct mandatory industrial inspections and fire audits, they have turned the city into a graveyard for the working poor. The State Labour Department must be held strictly accountable for its role in this institutional murder of the workers.

CITU condemns the TMC government’s attempt to hide the true scale of the horror by cordoning off the area and imposing Section 163 (BNS). CITU demands the immediate arrest of the ‘Wow! Momo’ owners on charges of culpable homicide (Section 105 of BNS). Accountability must be fixed on the high-ranking officials of the State Labour Department and Fire Services, who must be suspended and prosecuted for criminal negligence.

Our non-negotiable demands include a minimum compensation of Rs 25 lakhs for the family of every deceased worker; a lifetime monthly pension for the dependent family members; guaranteed government employment to one member of each bereaved family; and the State Government must ensure free, high-quality education for the children of the victims until the completion of their studies.

We also demand a time-bound judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge and an immediate statewide safety audit of all industrial warehouses. The illegally built warehouses over the wetlands and those operating without any fire and safety protocols should be closed immediately.

CITU calls upon the working class of West Bengal to rise in protest against this corporate-servile TMC government that treats workers’ lives as disposable fodder for profit, and calls upon all its affiliates to immediately conduct protest and solidarity actions across the nation.

Issued by

Elamaram Kareem

General Secretary

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) denounces the three-year Public–Private Partnership (PPP) Project Pipeline of Rs 17 trillion announced by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, as a policy initiative aimed at expanding private corporate control over publicly planned and funded infrastructure, detrimental to the interests of the people of India. CITU has been opposing the PPP model from the very beginning as it is nothing but the model of public spending and private profiteering.

The PPP Project Pipeline, anchored in the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and articulated following policy directions in the Union Budget 2025–26, seeks to promote large-scale private control, including foreign capital, primarily in greenfield and under-construction infrastructure projects. These projects span highways, railways, power and energy, transport and logistics, and water–sanitation sectors, where the State undertakes major financial, regulatory, and demand risks while private entities are assured long-term revenue streams.

The Pipeline, comprising 852 projects, includes 232 projects worth Rs. 13.15 trillion under central ministries and departments, and 620 projects worth Rs. 3.85 trillion under States and Union Territories. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways accounts for 108 projects with a total cost of Rs. 8.77 trillion, followed by the Ministry of Power with 48 projects worth Rs. 3.04 trillion. Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of projects at 270 with a total cost of Rs. 1.16 trillion, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 89 projects amounting to Rs. 11,518 crore.

Private participation under the PPP Project Pipeline is proposed through long-term concession-based contractual models such as Build–Operate–Transfer (BOT), Design–Build–Finance–Operate–Transfer (DBFOT), Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), Build–Own–Operate–Transfer (BOOT), and projects supported through Viability Gap Funding (VGF). These models enable private capital to secure assured returns through user charges, annuity payments, and fiscal support, even as public funds, guarantees, and regulatory concessions form the backbone of investment.

The PPP Project Pipeline represents a disastrous policy of subordinating future public infrastructure to corporate profit imperatives, burdening the people with user fees and long-term fiscal liabilities, despite the predominant role of public finance and risk absorption by the State.

In essence, the PPP Project Pipeline amounts to the long-term transfer of operational control and revenue rights over nationally planned infrastructure in the name of partnership and efficiency. It deepens neo-liberal restructuring by placing essential public infrastructure at the service of corporate interests under the Modi-led government at the Centre. CITU strongly condemns the PPP Project Pipeline and calls upon the working people to resist this policy to safeguard national assets and public services.

Issued by,

Elamaram Kareem

General Secretary

The 4th day of the 18th CITU All-India Conference transformed the port city of Visakhapatnam into a bastion of working-class internationalism today. More than 1,500 delegates and volunteers staged a massive, spontaneous demonstration at RK Beach, bringing traffic to a standstill in a powerful show of solidarity with the people of Venezuela.

In a stirring display of defiance, the conference unanimously adopted a resolution—moved by Sudip Dutta and seconded by Meenakshi Sundaram—vehemently condemning US imperialist aggression and the bombardment of Venezuelan territory. The protesters issued a stern, uncompromising demand for the immediate release of President Nicolás Maduro, standing firmly in defense of the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic. Amidst thunderous slogans, the delegates sent a clear message that the fight of the Indian working class is inextricably linked to the global resistance against imperialist interference and for the right of nations to self-determination.

Building upon the seminal paper, "Towards Building An Alternative Policies," presented by General Secretary Tapan Sen, the conference floor transformed into a site of intense strategic planning. Delegates emphasized that the current economic trajectory, dictated by neoliberal interests, necessitates a radical shift toward worker-centric policies. They framed the Alternatives paper as the indispensable ideological backbone for the struggles ahead, providing a blueprint to challenge the status quo and reclaim the rights of the toiling masses.

The momentum of the proceedings was further galvanized by the adoption of three additional crucial resolutions addressing the most immediate challenges facing the Indian workforce. The first, addressing increasing industrial accidents and the deterioration of workplace safety, was moved by Chukka Ramulu and seconded by P. V. Aniyan. The resolution highlighted a harrowing trend of declining safety standards and demanded the immediate reinstatement of rigorous safety audits and the absolute accountability of industrial management.

Resolution against communalism - K N Umesh, supported by Kailash, Resolution on massive mobilisation on 8 March on working women's issues - S Varalakshmi, supported by Pramod Pradhan.

Continuing the offensive against privatization, Deepa Rajan moved a resolution to oppose the privatization of electricity and the Electricity Amendment Bill 2025, seconded by Shankar Dutta. The conference denounced the bill as a predatory mechanism designed to transfer public assets to private monopolies, vowing to resist any attempt to turn a basic necessity into a source of corporate profit. Finally, the conference addressed the burning issue of retirement justice. R. Karumalaiyan moved a comprehensive resolution to strengthen EPS-95, scrap NPS/UPS, and restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), seconded by Lalit Mishra. CITU reiterated its demand for a universal pension to guarantee a life of dignity for all, serving as a clarion call for a nationwide intensification of the class struggle against exploitative policies.

Issued By
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

आज केंद्रीय ट्रेड यूनियनों (CTUs)और सेक्टोरल फेडरेशनों/एसोसिएशनों के संयुक्त मंच द्वारा प्रेस को निम्नलिखित बयान जारी किया गया:

केंद्रीय ट्रेड यूनियनों (CTUs)और सेक्टोरल फेडरेशनों/एसोसिएशनों का संयुक्त मंच दमनकारी श्रम संहिताओं तथा केंद्र सरकार द्वारा जनता के अधिकारों और हकों पर किए जा रहे बहु-आयामी हमलों के खिलाफ 12फरवरी 2026को सामान्य हड़ताल का आह्वान करने का संकल्प करता है।

हड़ताल की तिथि को 9जनवरी 2026को HKSभवन, नई दिल्ली में आयोजित होने वाले राष्ट्रीय श्रमिक सम्मेलन में औपचारिक रूप से अनुमोदित किया जाएगा।

केंद्रीय ट्रेड यूनियनों और सेक्टोरल फेडरेशनों/एसोसिएशनों के संयुक्त मंच की बैठक 22 दिसंबर 2025को हाइब्रिड मोड में हुई। बैठक ने इस अंतराल अवधि के दौरान संसद के भीतर और बाहर मोदी सरकार द्वारा किए गए खुले हमलों पर गहरी पीड़ा और चिंता व्यक्त की।

• “सस्टेनेबल हार्नेसिंग एंड एडवांसमेंट ऑफ न्यूक्लियर एनर्जी फॉर ट्रांसफॉर्मिंग इंडिया (SHANTI)अधिनियम” निजी और विदेशी कंपनियों को अत्यंत जोखिमपूर्ण और खतरनाक परमाणु ऊर्जा उत्पादन क्षेत्र में मुनाफे के उद्देश्य से प्रवेश की अनुमति देता है। यह अधिनियम दुर्घटना/आपदा की स्थिति में विदेशी एवं घरेलू उपकरण आपूर्तिकर्ताओं की देयता को समाप्त करता है—निश्चित रूप से यह हमारे देश की परमाणु सुरक्षा और संप्रभुता पर हमला है।
• महात्मा गांधी राष्ट्रीय ग्रामीण रोजगार गारंटी अधिनियम (मनरेगा) को विकसित भारत – रोजगार और आजीविका गारंटी मिशन (ग्रामीण) अधिनियम, 2025से प्रतिस्थापित कर दिया गया है। यह नया कानून, जब देश अत्यधिक बेरोज़गारी से जूझ रहा है, अधिकार-आधारित ग्रामीण रोजगार गारंटी को समाप्त कर केंद्र सरकार के विवेक पर आधारित व्यवस्था लाता है और वित्तीय बोझ राज्यों पर डाल देता है। यह कटाई के मौसम में अधिनियम के संचालन पर रोक लगाता है, जिससे जमींदारों को सस्ता श्रम सुनिश्चित होता है।
• बीमा क्षेत्र में 100%प्रत्यक्ष विदेशी निवेश (FDI)की अनुमति दे दी गई है, जिससे व्यावहारिक रूप से विदेशी खिलाड़ियों को घरेलू बीमा कंपनियों पर कब्ज़ा करने का अधिकार मिल जाए गा।
• केंद्र सरकार ने संसद के दोनों सदनों में “विकसित भारत शिक्षा अधिष्ठान विधेयक, 2025”पेश किया है, हालांकि इसे इस सत्र में पारित नहीं किया जा सका।
• सरकार ने ड्राफ्ट बीज विधेयक और ड्राफ्ट विद्युत (संशोधन) विधेयक, 2025जारी किए हैं। यदि ये विधेयक पेश होकर पारित होते हैं, तो कृषि, घरेलू और एमएसएमई बिजली उपभोक्ताओं तथा देश के सार्वजनिक विद्युत क्षेत्र पर विनाशकारी प्रभाव पड़ेगा।
• केंद्रीय ट्रेड यूनियनों ने देश के उत्तरी हिस्से में मौजूदा पर्यावरणीय संकट, दिल्ली-एनसीआर में असहनीय प्रदूषण, तथा सर्वोच्च न्यायालय के उस खतरनाक आदेश पर गंभीर चिंता व्यक्त की, जो अरावली पहाड़ियों के लगभग 90%हिस्से के विनाश की अनुमति देता है—जबकि ये पहाड़ियाँ थार मरुस्थल के विस्तार से उत्तरी भारत की रक्षक रही हैं।

CTUsइन सभी दमनकारी हमलों के खिलाफ संघर्ष कर रहे लोगों और आंदोलनों के साथ मज़बूत एकजुटता व्यक्त करते हैं।

CTUs संयुक्त किसान मोर्चा (SKM) को सामान्य हड़ताल के लिए उनके बिना शर्त समर्थन के लिए सलाम करते हैं।

नेशनल कोऑर्डिनेशन कमेटी ऑफ इलेक्ट्रिसिटी एम्प्लॉइज़ एंड इंजीनियर्स (NCCOEEE)ने भी उसी दिन पूर्ण शक्ति और दृढ़ संकल्प के साथ अपना सेक्टोरल राष्ट्रीय हड़ताल आयोजित करने की घोषणा की है।

NCCOEEE, संयुक्त मंच (JPCTUs)और SKMकी संयुक्त बैठक ने 23दिसंबर 2025को SHANTIअधिनियम के खिलाफ राष्ट्रव्यापी विरोध प्रदर्शन आयोजित करने का निर्णय लिया। जनवरी और फरवरी 2026के महीनों में बिजली कर्मचारियों और उपभोक्ताओं के साथ संयुक्त बैठकें और सम्मेलन आयोजित किए जाएंगे।

SKMने 16जनवरी 2026को गांव और ब्लॉक स्तरों पर प्रतिरोध दिवस मनाने का निर्णय लिया है—बीज विधेयक 2025, विद्युत (संशोधन) विधेयक 2025, VB-GRAMGअधिनियम, 2025के खिलाफ तथा अन्य मांगों के समर्थन में। CTUsइस कार्रवाई में पूर्ण शक्ति के साथ भाग लेंगे।

श्रम संहिताओं को अधिसूचित कर दिया गया है, और सरकार अपने समस्त संस्थागत तंत्र, मीडिया और सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र के प्रबंधन का उपयोग कर इन संहिताओं के पक्ष में सकारात्मक सहमति बनाने की कोशिश कर रही है। लेकिन श्रमिक, सरकार द्वारा  इन  श्रम संहिताओं एकतरफा थोपे जाने के खिलाफ संघर्ष करने और इनको निरस्त करवाने के लिए दृढ़ संकल्पित हैं।

केंद्रीय ट्रेड यूनियनों की बैठक ने 12 फरवरी2026 को “एक दिवसीय हड़ताल” आयोजित कर मोदी सरकार को कड़ा संदेश देने का निर्णय लिया है। हड़ताल की तिथि को औपचारिक रूप से अनुमोदित किया जाएगा और विस्तृत कार्ययोजना 9जनवरी 2026, HKSसुरजीत भवन, नई दिल्ली, दोपहर 2:00बजे आयोजित होने वाले राष्ट्रीय श्रमिक सम्मेलन में तैयार की जाएगी।

यदि सरकार श्रम संहिताओं के तहत नियमों की अधिसूचना जारी करने पर अड़ी रहती है और संहिताओं को निरस्त नहीं करती, तो केंद्रीय ट्रेड यूनियनें सेक्टोरल प्रतिरोध कार्रवाइयों के साथ-साथ बहु-दिवसीय सामान्य हड़ताल सहित और भी सशक्त कदम उठाने के लिए बाध्य होंगी।

CTUsसमस्त श्रमिक वर्ग और मेहनतकश जनता के अन्य सभी वर्गों से आह्वान करते हैं कि वे आगामी सामान्य हड़ताल के लिए कमर कसें, व्यापक अभियान शुरू करें और अपने संगठनों को तीव्र संघर्ष के लिए तैयार करें।

हम संसद में सभी विपक्षी दलों तथा समाज के विभिन्न वर्गों—विशेषकर युवाओं और छात्रों—से अपील करते हैं कि वे कामगारों के बुनियादी अधिकारों की रक्षा और देश की लोकतांत्रिक संरचना को बचाने के लिए इस हड़ताल के समर्थन और एकजुटता में आगे आएं।

        INTUC                  AITUC                HMS                  CITU                   AIUTUC

          TUCC             SEWA                  AICCTU                 LPF                UTUC

और सेक्टोरल फेडरेशन/एसोसिएशन

The following statement was issued to the press by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and Sectoral Federations / Associations today

• Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and Sectoral Federations / Associations resolve to call a General Strike on 12th February 2026 against the draconian Labour Codes and the multi-pronged attack by the Central Government on the people’s rights and entitlements.
• The strike date will be formally ratified at the National Workers’ Convention to be held on 9th January 2026 at HKS Bhawan, New Delhi.

The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Federations / Associations met on 22nd December 2025 in hybrid mode. The meeting expressed deep anguish over the blatant attacks of the Modi Government inside and outside Parliament during this intervening period.

**The “Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act”, which will allow private and foreign players to enter highly risky and hazardous nuclear power production with a motive of profit; it has withdrawn the liability of foreign and national suppliers of instruments in case of accidents/disasters – certainly, it is an attack on the nuclear security and sovereignty of our country.

**The Mahatma Gandhi NREG Act has been replaced by the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. This new Act replaces the rights-based rural employment guarantee, when the people are reeling under extreme joblessness, by discretion of the central authority and shifts the fiscal burden onto the States. It bans the operation of the Act during harvesting season, ensuring cheap labour to the landlords. 

** 100% FDI has been allowed in the Insurance Sector, practically giving foreign players the right to take over domestic insurance companies.

** The Central Government has placed the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, in both Houses of Parliament, though it could not be passed in this session.

** The Government has floated the Draft Seed Bill and the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025. These Bills, if placed and passed, will create a disastrous impact on agriculture, domestic and MSME electricity consumers, and the public electricity sector of our country.

** The Central Trade Unions took serious note of the current environmental crisis in the northern part of India, unbearable pollution in Delhi-NCR, and the dangerous Supreme Court order allowing the destruction of almost 90% of the Aravalli Hills, which have remained the protector of northern India from the expansion of the Thar Desert.

CTUs extend strong solidarity to the people and movements who are fighting against all of these draconian attacks.

The CTUs salute Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) for their unconditional support to the General Strike.

The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE) has also announced to hold its Sectoral National Strike on the same day with full strength and conviction.

The joint meeting of NCCOEEE, JPCTUs and SKM had decided to hold nationwide protests against the SHANTI Act on 23rd December 2025. Joint meetings and conventions with electricity employees and consumers will be held in the months of January and February 2026.

The SKM has decided to observe the Resistance Day on 16th January 2026 at villages and block levels against the Seed Bill 2025, Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2025, VB-GRAMG Act, 2025, and in support of other demands. The CTUs will take part in this action with full strength.

The Labour Codes have been notified, and the Government is trying to utilise all of its institutional machinery, media, and public sector managements to build a positive consensus around these Codes. But the workers are determined to fight against the unilateral imposition by the Government and get the Codes repealed.

The meeting of Central Trade Unions has decided to give a strong message to the Modi Government by observing a “One Day Strike” on 12th February 2026. The date of the strike will be formally ratified, and a detailed plan of action will be prepared at the National Workers’ Convention to be held on 9th January 2026 at HKS Surjeet Bhawan, New Delhi, at 02.00 PM.

If the Government still tries to pursue the notification of Rules under the Codes and does not repeal the Codes, the Central Trade Unions will be compelled to go for further strong actions, including a multiple-day General Strike, besides sectoral resistance actions.

CTUs call upon the entire working class and other sections of the toiling masses to gear up for the ensuing General Strike, start campaigning widely, and prepare their organisations for a heightened struggle.

We call upon all the Opposition Parties in Parliament and various sections of the people, especially the youth and students, to come forward in support and solidarity with this Strike to save the basic rights of the working people and protect the democratic fabric of the country.

Issued by

        INTUC                  AITUC                HMS                  CITU                   AIUTUC

          TUCC             SEWA                  AICCTU                 LPF                UTUC

And Sectoral Federations/Associations

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) strongly condemns the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, tabled in the Lok Sabha, and calls upon the working people, policyholders, and all democratic forces to oppose this retrograde legislation highly detrimental to national interests.

A careful reading of the Bill makes it clear that the Government proposes sweeping amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938, the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956, and the IRDA Act, 1999. Cloaked under the misleading and deceptive title “Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha”, the Bill is yet another attempt by the Government to mask a pro-corporate, pro-foreign capital agenda behind pro-people rhetoric.

The most dangerous provision of the Bill is the proposal to permit 100% foreign direct investment in insurance companies, including portfolio investors. CITU categorically rejects the claim that this move will strengthen the insurance sector or benefit policyholders. On the contrary, it will hand over India’s precious domestic savings to foreign capital, undermining national economic sovereignty.

Domestic savings are the backbone of economic development. As a welfare state, India must retain public control over these savings to fulfill its constitutional obligations. Allowing 100% foreign ownership will weaken this control and expose the savings of millions of workers and middle-class families to the profit-driven interests of global finance capital.

The Government’s argument that higher FDI is required for growth is completely baseless. Official data presented in Parliament itself show that foreign equity in the insurance sector stands at only 32.67% against the permissible limit of 74% as of March 2024. Since the FDI cap was raised to 74%, only a handful of companies have utilised this limit, while several major insurers have no foreign equity at all.

This clearly establishes that the existing FDI ceiling is not a barrier to growth. Raising it to 100% is therefore neither economically justified nor required for sectoral expansion. Rather it paves the way foreign take-over of Indian insurance companies, thereby peoples’ savings through insurance policies in the concerned taken-over entities.

The Bill will seriously destabilise the insurance industry. If foreign partners withdraw from joint ventures to operate independently, domestic companies will be weakened or pushed out. Past experience shows that at least nine foreign insurers have already exited the Indian market, leaving policyholders in uncertainty.

Foreign capital enters purely for profit maximisation. Its focus will inevitably be on high-value and high-margin segments, catering to the wealthy. This will force domestic insurers to abandon social and developmental insurance, severely undermining coverage for workers, the lower middle class, rural populations, and marginalised sections.

CITU strongly rejects the illusion that higher FDI will increase insurance penetration. Life insurance penetration depends on disposable incomes, while general insurance depends on asset ownership. With stagnating wages, rising unemployment, and widening inequality, neither condition exists in India today.

It is the public sector, particularly LIC and Public Sector General Insurance Companies, that has ensured relatively better insurance penetration despite economic constraints. Instead of strengthening these institutions, the Government is systematically weakening them.

By extending fuller application of the Insurance Act, 1938 to LIC through amendments to Sections 30A and 43 of the LIC Act, the Bill seeks to push LIC towards private-sector-style commercial benchmarks. This threatens LIC’s unique social-security role, its commitment to universal insurance, and the employment security of its workforce.

CITU warns that this is a step towards the gradual corporatisation and eventual privatisation of LIC, which will have grave consequences for policyholders, employees, and the broader economy.

CITU demands the immediate withdrawal of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The Government must abandon its blind pursuit of neoliberal policies that prioritise corporate profits over public interest. Instead, it must strengthen public sector insurance institutions, expand social security coverage, protect employment, and ensure that domestic savings serve national development goals.

CITU calls upon trade unions, policyholders’ associations, and all democratic forces to unite in resistance against this anti-people and anti-national legislation.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) strongly opposes the tabling of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha. By repealing the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010(CLND), this new Bill dismantles India’s carefully built nuclear safety and accountability framework and opens the most hazardous energy sector to large-scale private and foreign participation.

The Atomic Energy Act 1962 ensured strict public control over civilian nuclear activities due to their strategic and catastrophic risks. The SHANTI Bill replaces this with a profit-driven licensing regime that opens major segments of the nuclear value chain to private operators. This represents a decisive shift towards privatisation of nuclear operations while putting the entire burden of risks and consequences of potential disasters on the people.

By repealing the CLND Act, the Bill removes the operator’s statutory “right of recourse” against reactor suppliers, shielding manufacturers and vendors from liability for defective design or equipment. As a result, the financial burden of nuclear accidents is shifted from profit-making supplier corporations to the victims and the State. The continuation of an operator liability framework capped at 300 million Special Drawing Rights (around ₹3,690 crore) is grossly inadequate to address the scale of damage from any serious nuclear accident.

Actually, since the enactment of the CLND Act, multinational nuclear reactor suppliers have refused to supply reactors or invest in India, in fear of the supplier liability arising out of their faults. The United States has consistently exerted pressure on India to amend the CLNDA, to which the Modi government has now effectively yielded. Even the existing liability cap of ₹1,500 crore per incident, with a possible additional ₹1,500 crore from the Government, was a political compromise linked to the Indo–US Civil Nuclear Agreement of 2008 to accommodate foreign suppliers. Despite disasters like Fukushima, which has already cost over $200 billion, international suppliers continue to demand total immunity, seeking to restrict liability solely to the operator within strict monetary and time limits.

The Bill claims to establish an independent nuclear safety authority, yet simultaneously promotes private participation in the sector and establishes executive control over appointments. It doesn’t provide any statutory tenure and financial autonomy, and creates potential overlap between promotional and regulatory functions undermining genuine regulatory independence. Broad provisions allowing non-disclosure of safety and environmental information in the name of “national security” further erode transparency and public trust.

The aggressive promotion of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and fast-track licensing is particularly alarming. Smaller reactors do not eliminate risks related to radioactive waste, siting, cooling water or accident management.

Despite prioritising private investment, the Bill is largely silent on worker safety, job security and community protection. It contains no binding labour standards, union rights, enforceable safety obligations or statutory guarantees for long-term medical monitoring, rehabilitation and compensation in the event of nuclear or industrial accidents.

A nuclear law that privatises profits, socialises catastrophic risks, weakens liability and regulatory safeguards, dilutes environmental and labour protections, and permits foreign participation without mandatory Parliamentary oversight is unacceptable in a democratic republic.

CITU demands immediate withdrawal of the SHANTI Bill and the referral of the entire issue of “proposed change of liability regime” to a high-power independent committee to examine its veracity with mandatory public hearings, restoration of strict liability provisions including the operator’s right of recourse, establishment of a genuinely independent nuclear regulator, enforcement of robust environmental and labour safeguards, and explicit Parliamentary oversight over foreign participation and strategic nuclear activities.

Issued by
(Tapan Sen)
General Secretary