TMC dubs Modi's 'Make In India' campaign as 'Becho India' mission
Kolkata: Slamming the BJP-led Centre government's move to privatise or 'sell off' public sector units, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign as a 'Becho India' (sell India) mission. While addressing a press conference at Trinamool Bhavan on Tuesday, Sen highlighted how the Centre government had embarked on a mission to 'sell off' the country's public assets, from SAIL to Rail and BSNL.
On the contrary, veteran Trinamool Congress leader and state Panchayats and Rural Development minister Subrata Mukherjee emphasised on the enormous development work carried out by the Mamata Banerjee-led government in Bengal over a period of 10 years. The minister insisted that no erstwhile government in Bengal could boast of similar accomplishments.
"We have done unprecedented work, constructing roads and bridges in the cities and villages across the state," Mukherjee said on
Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Sen cited facts and figures to substantiate her claim. The MP claimed that the Centre was selling 100 per cent of its share in Air India, which had occupied a significant market position in international and domestic
operations.
According to Sen, AI along with its subsidiaries has 50.64 per cent share of the international traffic to and from India among Indian carriers. "AI has a rich heritage of over 87 years. It is one of the most extensive flight service providers in India with network coverage of 98 destinations (56 domestic destinations with around 2712 departures per week and 42 international destinations with around 450 departures per week as on November 1, 2019. It is India's prestige and now the stage is ready to sell this organisation,"
Sen said.
Drawing parallel, she spoke about the 'systematic degradation' of the BSNL in the past 6 years. "The Centre has forced 75,000 employees to take VRS and laid off 25,000 workers. In November 2019, they started forcing the staff to take VRS. The worst part is that those who have opted for VRS will have to wait for next fiscal (FY 21) to get their dues. The reason for the delay is because the union budget 2020 has not made any provisions for disbursement towards the programme in the current financial year," she maintained.
She said the Centre had announced that it wanted 150 privatised routes for better delivery of services in Indian Railways. "Privatisation cannot be a straight jacketed formula for improving the productive efficiency of Indian Railways. We all know this government's relationship with certain business groups and privatisation is just another way to sell a public asset," she added.
She also criticised the Centre's decision to sell Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, the oldest pharmaceuticals company in India set up in 1901 by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy.
Speaking on the same lines as Mukherjee, Sen insisted that Bengal is the best state in the country when it comes to road construction.
Under the 'Bangla Gramin Sadak Yojana', the TMC dispensation has spent Rs 16,561 crore to build roads spanning 35,611 kilometre. She said under Pathashree Abhijaan around 12,000 km of roads will be repaired. Under the project, 7,000 roads have been identified for repairs.
