The Hindu : Opposition slams disinvestment policies

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 02, 2002

National

National

Opposition slams disinvestment policies

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Aug. 1. The Opposition today criticised the Government's disinvestment policies in the Lok Sabha on the grounds that it was ``mindless'' and was meant for the benefit of corporate giants seeking to create monopolies. Seeking a review of these policies, members also attacked the Disinvestment Minister, Arun Shourie for writing a series of articles in which comments were made on functioning of ministers in his own Government.

Taking part in a special discussion on disinvestment of public sector undertakings, the Opposition members felt privatisation was not the right method to tackle serious issues relating to fiscal deficit and shortfall in tax collection.

The CPI-M leader, Somnath Chatterjee sought to know from Mr. Shourie in what capacity he had written newspaper articles on the disinvestment issue, putting himself in the role of a ``self-appointed adviser''. He said Mr. Shourie himself did not head any PSU while commenting on their functioning.

Describing the policy as dehumanising, he said earning money through sale of PSUs had become more important than workers' interests for the Government. Mentioning the sick industries in West Bengal which had been referred to BIFR, Mr. Chatterjee said all were in the private sector originally but were taken over because of their sickness and in the interest of workers. He called for a complete reversal of the policy of disinvestments, which he described as ``anti-national''.

Earlier, initiating the discussion, Prabodh Panda of the CPI questioned the purpose of disinvestment, classification of PSUs for this exercise and the methodology adopted for offloading the Government's stake in various units. He said disinvestment was benefiting only big corporates. This was evident from the manner in which the Tatas sought to withdraw Rs. 1200 crore soon after the disinvestment of VSNL in which it acquired 26 per cent stake for over Rs. 1400 crores.

In a scathing indictment of the disinvestment process, Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress said it had become merely a means to augment the budget and bridge the growing deficit. He questioned the utilisation of the disinvestment proceeds which were going into the `black hole' of revenue expenditure. He felt these should be used to restructure some of the loss-making businesses to make them viable or retiring the country's public debt or investing in the social sector.

Mr. Scindia said it was disturbing to read Mr. Shourie's statements about PSUs which speak of their uncompetitive nature. This was a great marketing statement, he said, aimed at securing high bids for companies.

The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda said the Government had sold precious assets at a throwaway prices. He cited the deal involving Hotel Ashoka in Karnataka in which the property itself was valued at Rs. eight crore. He demanded an inquiry into this sale as well as the entire disinvestment policy.

Members belonging to the NDA, however, strongly defended the disinvestment policy with Kirit Somaya of the BJP insisting that it would ensure optimum utilisation of national resources.

He said several States including those ruled by the Congress are also undertaking disinvestment.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National