RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh asks Centre to rethink PSU privatisation decision

BMS says Centre must rethink its decision on privatisation of public sector undertakings on a rational basis

Activists of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) from various States of the nation, hold a massive rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on November 17, 2022, to protest against privatisation and corporatisation of state-owned utilities and firms. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Thousands of workers affiliated to the RSS-backed trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Thursday protested in New Delhi against the Centre’s policies of privatisation and corporatisation of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The leaders of the BMS met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and urged him to review the decision to corporatise ordnance factories. In a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BMS said the Centre must rethink its decision on privatisation of the PSUs on a rational basis and to get an insight and ground reality, it must hold discussions with the representatives of trade unions.

Leaders who addressed the rally said policy measures such as dividing PSUs into core and non-core sectors, corporatisation of defence and railway establishments in the name of professionalisation and contractualisation of jobs in different forms were lopsided policies and might not yield expected results in long run. Workers from uranium mines, coal mines, defence establishments such as the DRDO, ordinance factories and various railway zones participated in the protests.

Tremendous service

In the memorandum, the BMS said the PSUs had done tremendous service to society during the pandemic. It added that the Centre’s decision to raise ₹1,75,000 crore through sale/corporatisation of PSUs was “a ridiculous amount” as the dividends paid by the PSUs were much more than this amount. “Under these circumstances it would amount to killing the golden geese. If the government intends to raise money for the upkeep of the pro-poor schemes, it should recover the same from corrupt officials, politicians and big industrialists because that is in fact the poor man’s money serving the corrupt while the PSUs are public money serving the public,” the memorandum said.

It added that the private sector is in the hands of big Industrial and business tycoons, who control the nation’s economy in certain sectors. “Most of these private corporate managements are only interested in expanding their business and earning profits. Their priorities are different,” the BMS said.