CPI(M) Polit Bureau B.V. Raghavulu on Saturday came down heavily on the NDA Government for pursuing the privatisation agenda vigorously at the behest of NITI Aayog by allowing investments in all the sectors under public-private participation mode.
Addressing a huge rally against privatisation, as part of a nationwide agitation against the policies of the NDA Government, near the GVMC Gandhi statue, he said mortgaging the security concerns in the defence sector, 100% FDI was being allowed.
Among others, CPI(M) State Secretariat member Ch. Narsinga Rao, city secretary B. Ganga Rao, and VSP unit leader K.M. Srinivas took part.
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Mr. Raghavulu criticised the decision to privatise railway stations and hand over their lands in the periphery for development in PPP mode, and said out of 400 stations identified pan India, in the first phase, 42 had been selected, including Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Secunderabad.
He said bullet trains and freight corridors were being given in the PPP mode. Petro-chemical complexes with SEZ status in large patches of lands were being offered to private investors.
Under the new Metro Rail Policy, privatisation was being encouraged despite failure of the private players in New Delhi and Mumbai, and pointed out that even ‘Metro-man’ Sridharan had admitted that the PPP mode was a flop.
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He said the NITI Aayog formed had given a “secret agenda of action,” which had been discussed in the Union Cabinet. The particulars of the agenda had not bee put on the public domain, he said.
RINL disinvestment
Stating that the Sangh Parivar harped on self-reliance and encouragement to Swadeshi under the ‘Make in India’ programme, he said how the country could achieve self-reliance if PSUs like Bharat Heavy Earth Movers and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited were disinvested.
The CPI (M) leader said even for disinvestment, this was not the right time for offloading shares as the market conditions were not favourable.
He added that the government was ready to write off dues worth ₹30,000 crore to hand over Air India on a golden platter to private parties close to the government. Air India earned a net profit of ₹105 crore in 2015-16 and ₹300 crore in 2016-17. If the government wanted to facilitate a turnaround for the national carrier, it should write off the dues by shelving the decision for strategic sale of Air India.