AIMS and OBJECTS OF THE All India Agricultural Workers Union
The All India Agricultural Workers’ Union puts toward the following demands with a view to develop a powerful movement and a strong organization capable of playing its due role in carrying out the agrarian revolution.
1. Abolition of landlordism and distribution of land to the agricultural workers and other rural workers employed for wages free of cost.
2. Ending of caste oppression, untouchability and socio-cultural discrimination.
3.Improvement of the living standards, working conditions and cultural level of the toiling masses, and development of agriculture and industry in the interest of the working people.
4. Democratization of the state structure to vest real power in the hands of the people.
5. Struggle against neo-liberal policies and all forms of imperialism and neo-colonialism and for peace against war.
The above tasks are to be carried out in unity and cooperation with all other democratic classes and their democratically elected mass and class organizations.
Immediate Demands
1. The union will take up struggles to ensure minimum wages for agricultural labour in both government sponsored employment schemes and for workers employed by land owners.
2. The union will fight for equal wages for equal work and organize women agricultural labourers against all forms of gender discrimination and for their equal rights and just demands.
3. The union will continue its struggle for Central Legislation for Agricultural Workers to ensure minimum wages, security of service, pensions, better service conditions, a welfare fund, health insurance and compensation for accidents.
4. All surplus and waste lands be distributed to agricultural workers and poor peasants within a specified period. Each family be provided with a house-site within two years with financial assistance for construction.
5. There should be an assured supply of essential commodities through fair-price shops under Universal PDS and food grains at Antyodaya Rates to all the BPL families and all agricultural workers and rural poor families.
6. To take up struggles for basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, sanitation, health and education.
7. All debts of agricultural workers be cancelled and cheap credit be supplied to them for the future.
8. Allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act be increased each year to provide work so that all districts of the country are covered in five years from the Act being passed.
9. All agricultural workers over 60 years be provided with pensions.
10. The system of bonded labour be put an end to, bonded labourers be liberated and conditions be created for their full freedom, including provision of monetary aid, land and house-sites as a priority to ensure they do not get into bondage again.
11. All cases of social oppression be severely dealt with and adequate punishment be given to the landlords and culprits, including police and bureaucrats, involved in committing atrocities on them.
12. To support the just demands of the peasantry and to secure their support for higher wages for agricultural labour.
The All India Agricultural Workers’ Union pledges to develop movements in unity with other mass organizations for the fulfillment of above demands. It appeals to the agricultural workers of the whole country to join the organization in large numbers and to build their organization to fight against economic exploitation, social oppression and discrimination of all kinds and march forward to carry out the agrarian revolution in unity with all other democratic classes and sections. The All India Agricultural Workers’ Union will also forge links with the working class movement, will support the toiling peasantry and will endeavour to form a firm basis of worker-peasant alliance with agricultural workers as its backbone.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ALL INDIA AGRICULTURAL WORKERS’ UNION
Article I:
NAME
The name of the organization shall be All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (referred to herein after as the Union
Article II:
THE FLAG
The flag shall be a red flag with the width being one half of the length in which the following shall be inscribed in white colour: Sickle and hammer, at the left top position of the flag and below that the letters AIAWU, from the top down.
Article III:
AIMS AND OBJECTS
a) Protection of the social economic and political rights of the agricultural workers and other rural workers employed for wages.
b) To undertake activities to create consciousness of class, organization, unity etc, among the agricultural workers and conduct struggles for winning their demands and to achieve their objectives, to undertake publishing of pamphlets, books, magazines, papers and running of libraries, medical health camps, adult education centres, night classes, cultural centers and other similar activities.
c) To organize, lead and undertake struggles for creating equality of opportunity and ending all sorts of exploitation and discrimination emphasizing gender equality.
d) Struggle against imperialism, neo-colonialism and neo-liberal economic policies.
e) And above all, to achieve the objectives enshrined in the statement of policy of AIAWU.
f) Struggle against communalism and for communal and social harmony.
Article IV:
MEMBERSHIP
A) Any agricultural worker of at least 16 years of age who accepts the aims and objects of the union and is willing to abide by the Constitution of the union can become a member of the union. The minimum membership fee will be Rs. 2.00 which can be revised by the All India Council. All the AIAWU State Committees shall pay a sum of Rs. 0.40 out of the membership fee per member on their rolls to the Central Office as affiliation fee. The membership fee can also be enhanced for state concerned as per the decision of the respective state organization. Before enhancing the membership fee in the state respective state committees should take permission from the Central Working Committee.
Note: An agricultural worker includes an agricultural labourer, a rural labourer, and a tribal labourer. All activists in the movement of the agricultural workers are entitled for the primary membership of the AIAWU.
b) May 1st every year will be the last date of enrolment of membership. In exceptional circumstances the Central Working Committee can extend this date.
c) No one, who had not enrolled himself as a member of the union by the last date of enrolment, fixed by the Central Committee, can participate in any election of the union
d) The membership register should be maintained at Panchayat/village level. The District Committee should maintain the counterfoils of the membership and check on them from time to time.
Article V:
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS
Every member of the union has a right to be elected to the committees at all levels. He is bound to discharge the assignments which are entrusted to him for the protection of the interests of the union.
Article VI:
AFFILIATION
a) Any union or a tribal organization in a state or a region, wanting to be affiliated to the AIAWU, can be given affiliation by the Central Working Committee, provided it accepts, by a solemn declaration, the aim and objects and Constitution of the union and pays the fixed affiliation fees.
b) Each State/Regional/Affiliated union may have its own constitution and rules in conformity with the aims and objects and the constitution and rules of All India Agricultural Workers Union.
Article VII:
STRUCTURE OF THE UNION
The union consists of the following units: Local/Ward Committees; Panchayats/Village Committees; Taluk/Area/Block Committees; District Committees; State/Regional Committees; Affiliated Unions; All India Council; its Central Working Committee and the Conference of the Union. Suitable changes can be made by the State Organizations to facilitate the work of the concerned organizations in states.
Article VIII:
ALL INDIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNION
a) All India Conference of the Union shall be held normally once in three years.
b) The Central Working Committee can hold a special Conference, if it is considered necessary or requested by one-third of the State-Regional Committees. The same is applicable to the lower units for holding a special conference but with the sanction of the higher committees.
c) Members of the Central Working Committee of the union will be ex-officio delegates to the All India Conference. Similar will be the position at the lower-level committees.
d) The delegates fee etc. to the All India Conference will be decided by the Central Working Committee. For state/Regional Committees.
e) The committees at all levels, can submit a panel of names for consideration of the Conference for election.
f) The dates and venue of the All India Conference will be decided by the Central Working Committee. The Committee shall make the necessary preparation for the Conference. All the Conferences in States/Regions and other lower units must be conducted as per directions of the Central Working Committee.
g) Agenda of the Conference will consist of discussion and decisions on the General Secretary’s Report, Resolutions, Statement of Accounts, Amendments to the Constitution, if any.
h) For conducting the Conference properly, a Presidium, Steering Committee, Resolutions Committee, Credentials Committee and Minutes Committee can be elected by the Conference.
i) Resolutions to be moved at the Conference should be sent to the Central Working Committee one month before the Conference.
j) All the decisions at the Committees or Conference would be taken by the single majority votes. But questions relating to national and international politics shall be decided by three-fourths majority.
Article IX:
COMMITTEES’ ELECTION
The committee at all levels from Panchayat/Village level upwards, must be elected democratically. The representation to the All India Conference (delegates to the All India Conference) will be decided by Central Working Committee and to the State/Regional Conferences and below that by the State/Regional-District-Taluk Committees of the union.
Article X:
ALL INDIA COUNCIL OF THE UNION
(a) The All India Council of the Union shall be elected at every Conference of the Union, with a membership not exceeding 151 persons on which all the States/ Regions/ Affiliated units of the Union shall be represented. The number of members from each State/ Regions/ Affiliated units will be fixed by the Central Working Committee.
(b) “ The All India General Council will elect a President, Vice Presidents, General Secretary, Joint Secretaries and Secretariat from among the members of the Central Working Committee as required. A Central Working Committee consisting not less than twenty one members will be elected.”
(c) The All India Council will continue to function till the new Committee is elected, and has taken charge.
(d) The resignation of any member of the Council or any Office-bearer other than the President, shall be submitted to the President and may be accepted by the Central Working Committee.
(e) If the President resigns, he shall send his resignation letter to the General Secretary for placing it before the Central Working Committee, and the Committee may accept the resignation and elect one of the Vice-Presidents as President.
(f) A meeting of the All India Council may be decided by the Central Working Committee in consultation with the President and by a notice of 15 clear days after its posting to each member separately.
(g) The All India Council shall meet at least once a year besides the meeting immediately after the Conference. One third of the members shall form the quorum.
Article XI:
THE CENTRAL WORKING COMMITTEE
(a) The Central Working Committee shall function as a Committee of the Council of the union during the period between two meetings of the All India Council.
(b) A meeting of Central Working Committee may be convened by the General Secretary in consultation with the President. It shall also be convened when at least one third of the members of the Council send in requisition for a specific purpose. But other items also can be placed on the agenda of the above meeting with the permission of the President.
(c) One third of the members shall from the quorum of the Committee. The rules applied to the All India Council shall, in general, apply in the case of the Central Working Committee also.
Article XII:
DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE BEARERS
(a) President will Preside over the Committee meetings and control the proceedings.
(b) In the absence of the President, one of the Vice Presidents will discharge his duties in order of precedence.
(c) The General Secretary will be responsible for running the Central Office, and keeping accounts.
(d) Joint secretaries will fulfill the tasks as assigned by the Central Working Committee and his duties.
Article XIII:
CENTRAL OFFICE
(a) A Central Office of the Union will be at Delhi. The Central Working Committee will have the right to shift Central Office to any other place if it is found necessary.
(b) The Office will run regularly, and duly keep registers, books of account and be in custody of all necessary documents and papers and other property of the Union. The General Secretary shall be in charge of the Central Office.
(c) Funds of the AIAWU exceeding Rs. 10,000 are to be deposited in a Bank on a joint account in the manner decided by Central Working Committee.
Article XIV:
UNION FUND
(a) The membership fee, collections and donations will constitute the Union Fund.
(b) The Fund can be utilized for function of the organization and the accounts will be placed before the Central Working Committee.
(c) Regular statement of the Union accounts duly audited by one or more persons appointed by the Central Working Committee shall be submitted to the Conference.
Article XV
SETTLING DISPUTES
The Central Working Committee of the Union is vested with the highest final authority in the matter of disciplinary actions, of redressing grievances of a subordinate unit and settling all appeals made by a unit of the Union against any decision of a state unit in connection with the dispute.
Article XVI:
DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Action like, suspension, expulsion, removal from the official position etc, will be taken against members, who act against the interests, growth and progress of the Union. When action is taken by a committee against a person, he should be given a charge sheet, and he should be given a reasonable time for giving his explanation. If the explanation is not submitted within a reasonable time, action can be taken without his or her explanation. He or she will have the right to appeal to the next higher committee.
Article XVII:
FARMING OF RULES
The Central Working Committee is authorized to frame rules when necessary, not in contravention of the Constitution, for the purpose of maintaining the discipline of the Union, for guidance of State/ regional or other units of the Union and for proper conduct of elections, settlement of disputes and other matters relating to the provisions of the Constitution.
Article XVIII:
EMERGENCY
In case of any emergency situation when normal functioning of the union in the whole country or a particular state is considered impossible, the Central Working Committee is authorized to take suitable and necessary decisions and measures for carrying on the activities of the union which are not provided in the Constitution of the Union.
Article XIX
AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
Any amendment to the constitution will be made by the All India Conference only, for which two months prior notice will be necessary.