THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Modi Government is pursuing privatisation on a big scale unprecedented in the 25-year-old history of neo-liberalisation in the country, CPM Politburo member Prakash Karat has said.
“The government is exploring new avenues as is evident from its privatisation plans for the railways and defence sectors,” he said after inaugurating the seminar on ‘25 years of financial sector reforms’ here on Saturday.
The Union Government has sanctioned 222 licences to private companies for the production of defence-related equipment, Karat said. Six corporates were selected for joint ventures with foreign companies’ defence manufacturing.
Karat said the BJP and its biggest supporter RSS had least regard for the sovereignty of the country. “In future, these companies will decide whether the country should wage a war with another country. It is obvious they will be driven by business interest and profit motive,” he said.
He also said privatisation plans for the railways is another big concern. Flawed policies have taken a toll on the economy.
“The recently released second part of the Economic Survey paints a bleak situation. Growth in industrial production has fallen drastically. Right wing economic policies of the BJP are to be blamed,” he said.
According to Karat, the banking sector faces threat due to the neo-liberal policies of the government. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017 envisages to shut down or merge unviable banks.
“The Left Government in Kerala is making commendable efforts to resist neo-liberal policies,” he said. “But the fight is difficult in states where Hindutva communal ideology has made headway. In those states, people are told their enemies aren’t capitalists but Muslims. Slaughter house ban in UP is an example for this.”
In the seminar, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the Haritha Keralam project of the state government has made progress in reviving the agriculture sector which was in the negative growth lane owing to neo-liberal policies. The seminar was organised by the AKG Study Centre in association with the Bank Employees Federation of India and All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA).
AKG Study Centre director A Vijayaraghavan, C P Chandrasekhar of Jawaharlal Nehru University, AIIEA joint secretary Shreekant Mishra, Planning Board member K N Harilal, BEFI national president C J Nandakumar, and CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan also spoke.