New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) Condemning the union cabinet’s decision to disinvest 10 percent shares in all profitable public sector, the Left parties Friday said it would “organise strong resistance” to the move.
“The Manmohan Singh government has embarked on this patently anti-national step along with measures to remove the FDI (foreign direct investment) limit in various sectors and open up more areas to foreign capital including vital sectors like the media,” said a statement signed by Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India’s A.B. Bardhan, Revolutionary Socialist Party’s (RSP) T.J. Chandrachoodan and Forward Bloc’s Debabrata Biswas.

After a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Thursday, Home Minister P. Chidambaram backed the divestment, saying all listed Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) have to divest 10 percent equity.

The home minister also announced that the government would list all unlisted public sector units (PSU) which do not have any accumulated losses, have positive net worth and make profits.

“By this, the Congress-led government has laid out a road map for the privatisation of the public sector units as it will require only a small step to bring down the government stake to a minority i.e. below 50 percent,” the statement said.

The Left parties also appealed to “all patriotic forces and political parties” to demand cancellation of the disinvestment measures.

“The Left parties will actively mobilise and lend support to the struggles of the public sector employees and the working class against disinvestment,” the statement added.