15/1089-90, VASUNDHARA, VASUNDHARA
(P.O.), Dt. GHAZIABAD
Website: www.auditflag.blogspot.com
Reference: AIA/Circular-07/2016 Dated:
28th February 2016
To
Unit Secretaries,
Members & Spl. Invitees – NE &
Members of Women’s Committee
Dear Comrades,
OBSERVE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Universally, 8th
March is observed as International Women’s Day.
International
Women's Day honors working women and women’s struggle everywhere. The International
Women's Day originated in honor of two all women strikes which took place in
the U.S.
First all
women strike was on March 8, 1857 when the garment workers in New York City
marched and picketed, demanding improved working conditions, a ten hour day,
and equal rights for women. Their ranks were broken up by the police. The
second all women strike was fifty-one years later, (again) on March 8 in 1908, when
the women in the needle trades in New York marched again, honouring the 1857
march, demanding the vote, and an end to sweatshops and child labor. The police
were present on this occasion too.
The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United
States on 28 February, 1909. The Socialist Party of America designated this day
in honour of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York, where women
protested against working conditions.
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen in 1909,
established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement
for women's rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for
women. The proposal was placed by German socialist Clara Zetkin which
was
greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17
countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish
Parliament. This Copenhagen initiative finally traversed to today’s
International Women’s Day as given below.
- 1911 As a result of the Copenhagen
initiative, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19
March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one
million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote
and to hold public office, they demanded women's rights to work, to
vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.
- 1913-1914 International Women's Day also became
a mechanism for protesting World War I. As part of the peace movement,
Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last
Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the
following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express
solidarity with other activists.
- 1917 Against the backdrop of the
war, women in Russia again chose to protest and strike for "Bread and
Peace" on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the
Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar abdicated and the
provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
- 1975 During International Women's
Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women's Day on 8
March.
- 1995 The Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action, a historic roadmap signed by 189 governments, focused
on 12 critical areas of concern, and envisioned a world where each woman
and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics,
getting an education, having an income, and living in societies free from
violence and discrimination.
- 2014 The 58th session of the
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) – the annual gathering of States
to address critical issues related to gender equality and women’s rights —
focused on “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the
Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”. UN entities and
accredited NGOs from around the world took stock of progress and remaining
challenges towards meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs have played an important role in galvanizing attention on and
resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The Observance of the International
Women’s Day should be utilised to enhance the social and trade union consciousness
of the women employees in our offices, all the while ensuring that the men
colleagues are also part of it.
It would be quite appropriate to
organise Debates, Seminar etc on the Day with some eminent personalities
working on the social arena on women issues being invited. The whole idea
should be to ensure women participation at grass root level as well as at
leadership level, raising the level of consciousness to fight the social
depravation that women are subjected to. The women employees should be equipped
through this process to fight the patriarchal system and obscurantist
ideologies that would like to confine the women in the four walls of kitchen.
MEETING WITH EMPOWERED COMMITTEE OF
SECRETARIES
As you have learnt by this time,
Standing Committee of JCM will have discussion, on the charter of demands
submitted, with the Empowered Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet
Secretary at 6.45 pm on 1st March 2016. The meeting initially
convened for 26th February 2016 was rescheduled as per the request
of the Staff Side as many of them who were out of station found it difficult to
reach on time.
It would be wrong to expect too much
from this single meeting. We should enter into negotiation with the government
with the backing of the mobilisation and preparation for strike from 11th
April 2016. Any let up by us in the preparation of the indefinite strike from
11 April 2016 would have serious repercussions. All the units are requested to
prepare the rank and file for the serving of strike notice on 11th
March 2016.
SERVE STRIKE NOTICE ON 11TH
MARCH 2016
The NJCA has decided to serve the
strike notice on 11th March 2016 to the respective Heads of
Department with massive demonstration at New Delhi as well as at every station.
We may take special care to ensure
that the discussions with the Govt do not dilute our enthusiasm and earnestness
in the preparation for the indefinite strike and the serving of strike notice
on 11th March 2016.
Every unit may please ensure that
the strike notice is served to the respective PAG/DG/AG/PD/Director/Dy Director
with massive meetings during lunch hour. HQr would serve strike notice to CAG
at New Delhi. The format of strike notice will be posted in our blog and mailed
too by 8th March 2016.
With greetings,
Yours
fraternally
(M.S.Raja)
Secretary
General
