Groups in Maharastra launch campaign to defend the services sector from WTO-GATS.  Call for parliamentary scrutiny of India’s stand before Hong Kong Ministerial

Over 200 representatives from Trade Unions (Banking, Insurance, Education, Port and Dock workers and government employees) and civil society organisations gathered in Mumbai on 16 November 2005 for a convention against the WTO-GATS. The focus was to strategise on defending the services sector in the context of positions being taken by the Indian Government in the current WTO negotiations.

The meeting commenced with the documentary: ‘WTO: Why is it really bad for you’. The short film, through voices of activists, highlights the key flashpoints in the negotiations in the run-up to the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of the WTO.   

Dr. Shanti Patel, former parliamentarian and former Mayor of Mumbai city, chaired the first session. He recalled the struggle for independence from the British, of which he was a part, and said that agreements like the GATS would result in India’s hard won sovereignty being signed away for the benefit of corporations. He called for a campaign to defend the services sector with the vigour of the freedom struggle. Any commitments to be made in Hong Kong should be closely scrutinised by the Indian parliament and state legislatures. Unless this is done there should be no deal in Hong Kong, he emphasised.

Former Indian Ambassador to the GATT, S P Shukla spoke about the resistance mounted by India and Brazil in the 1980’s to stop services from entering into the GATT. In this context Indias pro-GATS positions in the current negotiations were an extreme cause for worry. Services play a crucial role in meeting national policy objectives and GATS commitments would prohibit India from charting its own development path, he said. He said India’s trade objectives would benefit a small elite section of India and the poor would ultimately pay the price. 

S D Dospehswarkar of the All India Bank Employees Association chaired the second session on sectoral issues. AD Golandaz of the Maharastra State Electricity Board Union said that opening up the electricity sector would be disastrous for rural electrification. Nagarajan from Banking Union said that foreign banks operating in the country were draining resources from the country without any substantive investments. The Financial sector performed important developmental functions and hence public control over public money was essential. Kranti Jejurkar, Principal of Siddharth College said GATS commitments in the Education sector would lead to the monopolizing of quality education only for the rich classes. Kishore Thekedath of the Bombay University College Teachers Union said there was an ideological attack on education sector especially in the social sciences. P R Krishnan of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) recalled the glorious role of Mumbai’s working class in the struggle for freedom and said that CITU would be in the forefront of the campaign against GATS. Comrade Karnik from the Maharastra State Government Employees Union said that……………………………………………………………………………..    

The final session was chaired by S P Shukla and Gajanan Khatu. The open letter to Indian Parliamentarians, which was initiated from Maharastra, was introduced and an appeal was made to get more signatures before it was presented to MPs before the winter session of the parliament. It was also decided to have sectoral meetings on GATS and publish short briefings on crucial services sectors. There was also an urgent need to contact professional bodies such as the Chartered Accountants Association and Architects Federations. The convention endorsed the call of the Indian Peoples Campaign Against the WTO for a National Convention on December 3 2005 and National Day of Protest on December 13 2005 when the Ministerial Meeting begins in Hong Kong. The next meeting of the organising group will be held on 21 November 2005 at the All India Bank Employees Association office.

A call was also given to moblise for the Maharastra level convention on WTO and Agriculture that will be held on December 4 2005 at Pune.