People's Democracy

  CITU Denounce BHEL Disinvestment Move

THROUGH a statement issued by its secretariat on May 28, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has denounced the retrograde move to dilute the government stake in the profit-making public sector units.  As per reports, government has just announced its decision to sell 10 per cent share of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, a profitable PSU manufacturing power plant equipments, while many others like the PGCIL, PFC etc are in the pipeline. Already 33 per cent shares of BHEL were sold out by the previous governments at the centre and further offloading of 10 per cent shares would reduce the governments stake in the company to around 57 per cent. It clearly manifests the dubious design to crawl towards privatisation of profitable public sector undertakings (PSUs) in tranches in the face of restriction on the outright sell-off, imposed by the National Common Minimum Programme.

The CITU said such creeping privatisation through dilution of stakes in profitable PSUs by the government militates against the spirit of the NCMP. The NCMP ruled out privatisation of profit making PSUs. The NCMP, of course, mentioned about the possibility of profit-making PSUs accessing the capital market for resource generation, if required. Trade unions and the CITU in particular opposed such a provision in the NCMP.

However, the PSUs shortlisted by the government for fast-track equity dilution do not satisfy even those stipulations in reality. It is not the BHEL that is now accessing share market for raising resources through sale of shares but the finance ministry, or for that matter the central government itself, is resorting to sale of family silver for bridging the budgetary deficit. The union industry ministry had gone on record in November 2004 that BHEL does not require funds warranting sale of shares, but ultimately it has to okay the sale of shares. It appears that the finance ministry has drawn up the blueprint to sell out shares of the profit making PSUs up to 49 per cent one by one, for the time being, given the hurdles laid down in NCMP. This is nothing but a betrayal to the commitment given in the NCMP and deserves condemnation.

The CITU has urged upon the UPA government to refrain from such retrograde exercise of selling out shares in the profit-making PSUs and called upon the working class and the trade union movement to unitedly act to thwart such an anti-national design of creeping privatisation of profitable PSUs. (INN)