New Delhi, October 2
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today accused sections of the media of distorting facts on the disinvestment issue. He said an impression was being created as if the privatisation process had come to a halt due to differences within the NDA government.
“Differences are bound to be there when knowledgeable people discuss policies...But an impression is being created that the disinvestment policy is wrong and that there are divisions within the government,” Mr Vajpayee said in an apparent reference to the opposition to the strategic sale of public sector units from some Cabinet ministers.
He was speaking after launching the first issue of “Shram Samachar” brought out by the Labour Ministry to carry information on labour reforms, labour laws, rights and duties of workers and employers to the industries and labour organisations.
Interestingly, Mr Vajpayee’s remarks came at a function here hours after hardliners in the Cabinet against the strategic sale method for disinvestment— George Fernandes, Murli Manohar Joshi and Ram Naik—met here and discussed the issue.
Observing that it was not always necessary that everyone in the government should sit together to discuss policies, Mr Vajpayee said there was nothing wrong if people held separate meetings. “But there should be a limit to that,” the Prime Minister added
Mr Vajpayee also regretted that an impression was being created that the country’s vital assets were being sold through the privatisation process.
Accepting that the media had the right to report what it thought right, Mr Vajpayee felt that “such a campaign is not in the country’s interest. It is incorrect to say that the country is being sold. No one can sell this country and no one has been born who can buy India.”
However, Mr Vajpayee asserted that he was not opposed to a debate on the privatisation policy being followed for the past two-and-a-half years by the government, a move which had been initiated by the previous governments.
He also said that he was not against corrective measures being taken after a review of the policy.
Referring to loss-making PSUs, Mr Vajpayee said these firms had not been making profit for years and that steps had to be taken to privatise them. He cited the example of the efficient running of Modern Bakeries after disinvestment.
Mr Vajpayee said it was also important to ensure that workers if retrenched due to privatisation, should be provided jobs.
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma attended the
function.
