It has questioned the relevance of setting up a disinvestment commission at all if, as it estimates, two-thirds of the proposed disinvestment will be accomplished before the commission becomes operational. The government has proposed to disinvest PSU shares in three tranches and first two of them have been planned beginning from September.
In a strongly-worded article, to be published in the coming issue of the CPI organ, New Age, party national secretary D Raja says that, in this way, the commission becomes almost worthless and virtually meaningless.'
As per the parameters of the common minimum programme, the disinvestment commission should be a public sector units reform commission, Raja adds, but the terms and references for the commission make it clear that it is going to be a sales agent of the PSU shares for the government. It is a basic deviation from the position of the CMP.' Even before the commission came into being, the government announced that it proposed to raise Rs 5,000 crore through disinvestment of PSU shares. It has pre-empted the commission already,' he holds. Whereas the CMP talks of making PSUs with comparative advantages' global giants, efforts are on to disinvest shares from the most profit making ones.
such as ONGC, VSNL, Indian Oil. It is another basic deviation from the position of the CMP,' he says.
Raja says that the finance ministry and the industry ministry have no convincing definition of non-core and non-strategic areas and it appears that they have no perception of reforming the public sector. The steps being taken by these ministries shall definitely lead to dismantling of PSUs. Consequently it shall undermine the self-reliance and economic sovereignty of the country.'
He demanded that the UF government must re-examine these proposals and strive for strengthening PSUs rather than dismantling them.