BMS opposes divestment of govt stake in PSUs, to protest on Jan 3 across India

New Delhi, Dec 20 () RSS-affiliated trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Friday expressed concern over disinvestment of public sector units, saying "pro-privatisation lobby has painted all the PSUs as inefficient", which is false.

"BMS expresses its anguish on the way in which government is selling public sector enterprises in India. PSUs in India had played a historical role in contributing to our economy. Even now it is playing its role well," it said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, the pro-privatisation lobby painted all the PSUs as inefficient. It is also making false propaganda that the entire PSU sector is in loss, which is utterly false. PSUs performed well," it added.

The National Convention of CPSUs Employees, under the Public Sector Coordination Committee of BMS, on Friday decided that a day-long 'Save PSUs, Save Nation' dharna will be held at all district headquarters on January 3, 2020.

After holding the protest, the BMS will wait for government action till the Budget session of parliament and then decide on the next course of action, it said.

According to the statement, in 2017-18 the overall profit of the CPSUs was Rs 1,28,374 crore, and they paid Rs 76,578 crore as a dividend. Statistics reveal that jobs created by PSUs is more than that by the private sector.

"The Government is killing the duck that lays golden egg. Previously Planning Commission has played a great role in defining the role of each and every sector in India, including public, private sectors and thus tried to shape India's future," it said, adding that after NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission, all such serious exercises were stopped and it is working "merely as an agent to facilitate strategic sale".

The Convention demanded that the central government should immediately stop its "lopsided Policies against PSUs on Privatisation, Disinvestment, Strategic Sale of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPUs), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Merger of Banking and Insurance Sectors, Corporatisation of Railways, Defense Production Units, and PLI in Postal."

However, it appreciated the government's decision on revival of BSNL - MTNL.

The union also demanded starting wage negotiations, clearing salary/wages/retirement benefits and reviving sick PSUs.

The government should withdraw the huge spending on unnecessary corporate concessions, it added.

"This process (disinvestment) got aggravated from the time when reforms were initiated in 1991 by Dr Manmohan Singh," it said. KKS ABM