Left parties to meet soon on Nalco, Neyveli issues

Left parties will soon meet to decide on intensifying their stir against the UPA government's economic policies, including its decision to sell equity in profit-making PSUs and import of foodgrains, CPI said today.

Sounding a warning that the government could not ignore the concerns of the Left parties, which extend crucial support to the ruling coalition, CPI demanded that such moves be reconsidered so that a mid-course correction of the policies could be undertaken.

"The decision of the government recklessly disinvesting the high profit-earning PSUs like Nalco and Neyveli Lignite Corporation has resulted in serious discontent and anger...The UPA government cannot ignore the concerns expressed by the Left," it said in a statement here.

Supporting the agitation by Left trade unions, CPI said the selling of 10 per cent equity in Nalco and NLC were not only opposed by the Left parties, but also by the state governments of Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

The party also demanded that "forward trading, which encourages hoarding and results in skyrocketing prices, be stopped immediately and the Essential Commodities Act applied to control prices and dehoard stocks."

"The import of foodgrains and other essential commodities shows utter failure of the UPA government to build food security, and instead of going back to the old days of food imports," the party said.

It also criticised outsourcing in banks, describing it an affront to the "fundamental positions of the nationalised banks" and an attempt to bring privatisation in banking industry through the back door.