Karat, Bardhan urge PM to stall UNI takeover bid

New Delhi, Sep 22 (UNI) Strongly denouncing a private media house's bid to buy majority stakes in United News of India (UNI), Left leaders Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan today dashed off letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his immediate intervention to stall the move and announce a liberal financial package to revitalise the news agency.

''The move will destroy the objective, democratic character of the news agency and bring it under the monopoly control. A handful of directors cannot take this fateful decision as if they are disposing of their patrimony,'' Mr Bardhan wrote in the letter.

''A noble institution is sought to be transformed into a business house,'' he added.

Mr Karat said handing over the news agency to a private media group without examining the factors leading to its present financial condition, was ''in a way a complete contravention of the spirit and objective'' with which it was founded.

Since there is no independent regulatory agency for overseeing this area, the government itself should assume this power and intervene while coming out with an acceptable solution, Mr Karat said.

He said it was ''disturbing'' to hear that there is no transparency on the specific nature and implications of the sale ''not to speak of issues regarding retrenchment and VRS of the employees''.

Pointing out that UNI was established in 1961 on the advice of country's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as an independent and neutral news dissemination agency, Mr Bardhan said any distortion in its present character would go against the interests of thousands of small regional newspapers.

''UNI is not just a news agency but an institution in disseminating information and reports about developmental activities...It is the only news agency that has its network in both Hindi and Urdu, apart from English,'' Mr Bardhan pointed out.

The CPI leader also sought to remind the Prime Minister that the government had not kept its promise of extending generous financial aid to the agency's Hindi and Urdu wings when these were launched.

''I request you to kindly intervene immediately and take necessary measures to stall the takeover bid. I am of the opinion that the UPA government should also look into the financial difficulties of the UNI and announce a proper package to ward off the crisis and revitalise the agency,'' Mr. Bardhan said.

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