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Shourie briefs BJP think-tank on divestment

K G Suresh in New Delhi

In a concerted bid to remove apprehensions within the Bharatiya Janata Party on government's on-going privatisation process, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie on Saturday briefed the party's think-tank on its merits and claimed there was a "consensus in practice" on the issue.

Addressing members of the party's intellectual cell in New Delhi, the journalist-turned-politician said the implementation of the government's divestment policy has shown the benefits of privatisation to taxonomy, stock market and employees.

While a sick unit like Modern Foods had doubled its sales in the first quarter of the year itself after divestment, there has been a wage revision of up to Rs 2090 per worker per month in units such as Paradip Phosphates after the Birlas took over, he said, according to party sources.

"Of the 31 (divestment) transactions in the past 18 months, two-thirds were of loss making units," he said responding to a question from a participant that the public perception was that profit-making public sector units were being privatised.

According to the sources, Shourie said the big industrial houses have created very powerful lobbies in the government over the years. "Their tentacles reach right into our heart," he reportedly said.

Sangh Parivar outfits including the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh have been highly critical of the government's divestment policy. Even several party MPs in the past had raised apprehensions about divestment of PSUs such as Balco.

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