COM. GOPAL SINGH JADOO.
The demise of Com. Gopal Singh Jadoo conveyed by our Rajasthan Comrades, through whatsapp message saddened many of us who had worked with him for several years. Com. Jadoo born in August, 1947 entered the I.T. Department in 1967 at the age of 21. These two years i.e. the year of birth and the year o f entry into the Incometax Department happened to be one and the same in the case of the undersigned too; a co-incidence, which I had no occasion to notice in the past. He was recruited to the then prevailing lowest strata of the hierarchy of the I.T. Department. The vantages of the feudal society that had remained refusing to vanish despite the strong movement built up in the wake of the independence struggles of the country had made the early life of Com. Jadoo rather miserable. Naturally he could not receive the requisite formal education required for a decent job but the one he got was enough to pull him and his family out of the agony. The day to day happenings, the sheer injustice meted out to personell at the lower rungs; the subjugation hurting self respect played a vital role in transforming his personality. He found the trade union movement and the platform of the Association as an important vehicle to transform himself and embolden him to question the traditions and traditional behaviours of the superior officers. He became an active members of the then prevailing Group D (Class IV) Association of Rajasthan. He strived hard as an activist of the Association and over a period of time received respect and admiration from his colleagues for the courage and steadfastness he could command. In a small span of 4 years, he became the President of the Association i.e. in 1971 and continued in that position till 1978. The one day strike of 19th September, 1968 and the after effects of it in which hundreds of comrades had to face repressive and vindictive action from the Administration unfortunately gave room for differences at the apex level of the organisation and the consequent disruption in the otherwise united movement of tax employees. Those differences did not remain static at the apex level. It started percolating down to the grass root level. Rajasthan was no exception to this unfortunate phenomenon. The difficulties created by the disruption affected the Group C Unins (Class III Unions) most. The Rajasthan Incometax Employees Association faced a serious onslaught of the disunity. Com.Jadoo stood firm with the comrades who were fighting the disruptive elements and made great contribution in halting disruption and bringing out the unity. However, they had to undergo terrible repressive measures from the local administration of Rajasthan. One must unhesitatingly admit that it was the rock like solid support and solidarity extended by Com. Jadoo and his comrades that helped the Rajasthan Incometax Employees Association to weather the storm and become ultimately successful. His unwavering faith in the ITEF and its leadership at that point of time made that possible.
There were innumerable occasions thereafter, When Com. Jadoo had lent his superb leadership qualities for the ITEF to become stronger and stronger in unity. The formation of the Joint Council of Action in 1985 and the struggles waged by the ITEF through that united platform in which all Associations/Unions of the employees and promotee officers participated widened the arena of activities of Com. Jadoo. The first industrial action of the entirety of the employees and promotee officers of the I.T. Department in 1987 threw up very many promising comrades to the National level and Com. Jadoo was prominent among them. He remained the General Secretary of Rajasthan Aaykaar Karamchari Sangh for a number of years and spearheaded a number of struggles both at the National and local levels and rose to become ITEF’s All India Vice President. He was very uncompromising on principles and had fought valiantly for his comrades. The large number of casual and contingent workers, which had been unpardonably huge in Rajasthan , had aspired to be regularised having put in number of years without any job security. The enduring efforts of Com. Jadoo and his colleagues ultimately ensured that all of them were regularised. The court cases he fought for his comrades in the Cours of Rajasthan had been innumerable. In 2007 he retired from active service but his comrades wanted him to continue, which under the extant dispensation was not possible. He became their patron and advisor and continued to serve them for a number of years thereafter. That was the extent of love and affection and respect he enjoyed amongst the grass root level members of the Association. When the efforts were to be undertaken to form the Pensioners Association of the retired personnel from Income-tax Department, he took the initiative in Rajasthan and had been an active worker and office bearer for a long time till he was bed-ridden. He was very close to Com.S.K. Vyas who was the Secretary General of Confederation and who hailed from the State of Rajasthan and worked full time to ensure the well functioning of the Co-ordination Committee of Central Government Employees of Rajasthan.
Com. Jadoo was a very courageous man capable of facing any eventuality and any challenge in any situation. He was of the opinion that the issues as and when it arises must be addressed and should not be allowed to be procrastinated. More than respected, the personnel in the management had been looking at him with an element of fear as his action moments could not have been anticipated. They had tried many time to break the unity of the members of the Rajastan Aaykar Karamchari Sangh, but without success.
While he was very active in the Pensioners movement at Jaipur , he fell ill and unfortunately became a prisoner in his own home unable to move about. It was only through telephone that he had been in touch with his friends and comrades. Com. Jadoo will be remembered with fondness by all who were associated with him and especially the Income tax employees of Rajasthan. Rajasthan became a very prominent affiliate of the ITEF and Com. Jadoo had played a very vital role along with others to achieve that position.
As he was a man who could not tolerate injustice, he was also very affectionate and was loved by one and all especially by his family members. He received love and affection in abundance from all the members of his family, who lived together. He had conveyed to this writer the affection and co-operation he has received from his family members which alone had been responsible for the success of his life. In his demise, certainly they had lost the most affectionate head of their family and are naturally grieved grievously along with the family members innumerable Comrades who were employees of IT Department will remember him and shall very remain graved for a lovely family . While we dip our flag in memory of this great comrade, Com. Gopal Singh Jadoo, we convey our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved members of his family.
KKN. Kutty
Secretary General, NCCPA
