New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the NDA government of weakening PSUs and trying to sell their assets to its “capitalist friends for free” while claiming that the “conspiracy” to gradually dismantle government institutions is very deep-seated and detrimental to India’s future.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha, shared a video of his conversation with employees of a PSU, Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Corporation Limited (BIBCOL) at his Parliament office, saying they had not received salaries for some time now.
The biotech company that has been successful until recently would be handed over to private companies in the name of “losses”, he alleged.
“The suppression and privatisation of government institutions have become the biggest misdeed of the current NDA government and a great curse for India.
“Just a few days ago, I met with a delegation of employees from Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Corporation Limited (BIBCOL) at the ‘Jan Sansad’ (People’s Parliament). The situation they described will not only surprise you, but leave you utterly shocked,” he said in a post.
Gandhi said the employees of this government company have been without salaries for years and their lives depend on loans, borrowing, and sheer desperation to make ends meet.
“This is the same BIBCOL, the only government company in India that manufactures vaccines, which made a historic contribution to the eradication of diseases like polio. Its role in providing vaccines to the government at low prices and ensuring their availability to every child has been crucial.
But this company, which was profitable until 2017, has been deliberately and systematically driven into losses, the Congress leader claimed.
“The reason is clear: So that government contracts can be handed over to private companies,” he said.