CITU opposes divestment drive in SAIL and other PSUs

Kolkata, Jun 21 (UNI) The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today denounced the Centre's alleged renewed move to divest shares of profit-making PSUs.

In a statement, CITU all India president M K Pandhe said, it was ''a matter of grave concern'' that the UPA Government is not even sparing the Navaratna PSUs like SAIL from their sell-off drive although it was earlier declared by the Government that Navaratnas will not be divested. Besides SAIL, highly profit-making PSUs like Nalco and Neyveli Lignite Corporation are in the divestment net. '' He stated that the plea of satisfying the listing-guidelines of SEBI and attracting Flls being taken by the Centre to justify such divestment did not make any sense and rather ''smacked of dubiousness.'' Mr Pandhe said as per commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP), the UPA government was not at all authorised to sell shares of profit-making PSUs.

'' The CITU opposes such unscrupulous move by the Union government and calls upon the working class to resist such design to put on sale country's bluechip PSUs through united struggle. The CITU also cautions the UPA government to refrain from such unjust exercises, '' he averred.

Meanwhile, the National working committee of Steel Workers' Federation of India, which met here today, also condemned the move of divestments in SAIL and other PSUs and called upon the workers to fight such nefarious design through united struggle.

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