Trade unions slam govt's FDI policy initiatives

New Delhi, Jun 21: Trade unions such as All India Trade Union Congress Trade Union (AITUC) and RSS-backed Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh have slammed the government's move to open sectors like defence, retail and aviation to foreign investors.

AITUC Secretariat today condemned the full open door FDI policy for defence, aviation and retail trade and six other sectors including pharmaceutical, the union said in a statement. "Liberal FDI in defence and aviation will put our national security in jeopardy whereas in retail it will harm the interest of millions of small and medium shopkeepers," it said.

Liberalising foreign direct investment (FDI) in pharma will make health care costly. Further opening up of FDI is not going to add to growth of development and jobs as has been the experience with limited FDI, AITUC added.

The union said it has called upon its affiliates to stage protest against anti-people and anti-national policy of the Narendra Modi government. Yesterday, BMS had opposed government's decision to relax FDI norms and demanded discussion on the issue with all the stakeholders.

"It is not appropriate to open important sectors like defence and civil aviation for FDI ... BMS demands the government call a meeting of all stakeholders to discuss the FDI issue," BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said in a statement.

BMS said that after making a lot of efforts to boost FDI in the country, neither investments flow increased nor the employment.

It alleged that foreign companies often grossly violate labour laws of the country. Government yesterday relaxed FDI norms in a host of sectors including civil aviation, single-brand retail, defence and pharma by permitting more investments under the automatic route.

PTI