Parmita Uniyal
New Delhi: The Modi government’s airport privatization plan has come under attack with Communist Party of India (CPI) terming it as a move to promote big corporates.
“It (privatization) is against the interest of the nation. It is sad that well-organised and profit-making airports are being given away to private companies,” Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja told Top Lead India.
While taking the government head-on, the veteran leader said that if BJP government remained in power for long they will dismantle public sector undertakings (PSUs) and promote big corporate houses.
The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in July approved the proposal for leasing out of three Airports Authority of India (AAI)-owned airports — Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru — to Adani Enterprises based on the Gujarat firm’s highest quote in the competitive bidding.
As per the bid criteria and other terms, Adani would manage the three airports for a lease period of 50 years. Adani group is the highest bidder for three more airports — Trivandrum, Guwahati and Jaipur but they are yet to be cleared by the cabinet.
“We are opposing this move of the government. This issue has been raised inside the Parliament also. The Kerala government has objected to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) airport being handed out to Adanis,” Raja said.
A section of AAI employees under the banner of Joint Forum of Unions and Associations have been protesting against privatization. They sat on hunger strike this week to oppose the move. The AAI union got the support of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), a leading trade union with members all across the country.
The AAI staff unions fear that the government may identify more airports for privatization in coming months. CPI’s Raja slammed the government for its disinvestment and privatization overdrive.
“This government is also talking about privatization of Air India which is a top airline in the country. If managed properly Air India has the potential to become one of the largest airlines in the world. But this government is hell-bent on privatising it,” the CPI General Secretary said.
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