New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision of strategic disinvestment of PSUs and public sector banks is facing stiff opposition from the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which is one of the forty-four affiliated organisations of the RSS, ETV Bharat has learnt.
In a strongly worded letter, BMS general secretary Binoy Kumar Sinha, opposed the policy of disinvestment, monetization and strategic sale of Central PSUs, banks, and insurance companies.
In the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by ETV Bharat, Sinha also opposed the corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and Railways.
"Your government's decision to go on with the policy of disinvestment, monetization, strategic sale, corporatization of CPSEs, banks, insurance companies, defence and railways, boldly outlined in the Budget, has badly hurt the hardworking employees and the sentiments of general public," Binoy Sinha wrote in the letter.
The Kendriya Karya Samiti (KKS), the apex decision-making body of the BMS, deliberated the issue for three days in Chennai.
According to the sources, a senior RSS functionary was also present in the Chennai meeting, which started on February 12 and concluded on February 14. In the meeting, the BMS passed several resolutions against the privatisation move of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
A source told ETV Bharat that the resolutions passed by the Kendriya Karya Samiti of the BMS against the Modi government's ambitious privatisation drive enjoy backing of the RSS as the issue was deliberated and discussed in the presence of a senior RSS functionary for three days.
"They (RSS) cannot ask us to call off any future agitation as the resolutions have been passed in the presence of a senior RSS functionary," said the source.
The resolutions say that the BMS will oppose the disinvestment of public sector undertakings such as government banks and insurance companies, and PSUs operating in coal, non-coal, steel, cement, engineering and defence sectors.
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"The KKS has decided to vehemently oppose this policy," read the letter addressed to Prime Minister Modi.
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant protest
In the letter, a copy of which is also marked to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the BMS also opposed the government's move to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant located in Andhra Pradesh.
"It is pertinent to mention here that in Visakhapatnam steel plant, the workers' agitation has turned into a social agitation as the decision of the government has proved to be too provocative for the general public," Sinha said in the letter.
In a separate interaction with ETV Bharat, Tapan Sen, national general secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), asserted that the workers will not allow any corporate to take control of the central PSU, including Visakhapatnam Steel Plant owned by the RINL, even if the government goes ahead with its privatisation drive.
Read:Protest intensifies against Vizag Steel Plant privatisation
In its letter to Prime Minister Modi, the BMS said that its leaders representing workers in the above mentioned sectors will hold a meeting in Hyderabad on February 25 and 26 to decide the future course of action.
"But before proceeding for any agitation or protests we would prefer to indulge in dialogue with the government," said the BMS leader while urging the Prime Minister to urgently convene a meeting to sort out the issue.
Why opposition by the BMS matters!
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) is one of the forty-four affiliated organisations of Nagpur-based Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has so far not taken a final decision on whether to participate in next month's nationwide strike called by the bank employee unions and officers' associations against the government's move to privatise public sector banks.
However, opposition from the BMS and its participation in the next month's bank strike may further complicate the challenges for Prime Minister Modi's Government, which is already grappling with a strong protest by farmers to the three recently passed farm laws.
The BMS is not only affiliated to the RSS as the ruling BJP is, but the central trade union also has one of the largest base among the workers with its more than 6,000 labour unions and over two crore members.
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