"Left not to allow privatisation of Indian airports"

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Left not to allow privatisation of airports
India - The Hindu


THE HINDU - Reiterating that the Left parties will not allow
privatisation of airports in the country, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau
member, Sitaram Yechury, has said that a delegation comprising the
representatives of the Airports Authority of India Joint Employees Forum
(AAIJEF) and the CPI (M) MPs would meet the Prime Minister, Manmohan
Singh, to discuss the issue next week.

He told mediapersons at the Karippur airport here today that no
unilateral discussions would be taken since the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) Government functioned with the support of the Left
parties.

"We wanted a straight-forward explanation from the Government on vital
issues such as transfer of property of the Airports Authority of India
(AAI) to private players,'' he said when his attention was drawn to the
submission of bids for Expression of Interest (EoI) by ten parties for
the modernisation and restructuring programme of Delhi and Mumbai
airports.

Asked what would be the CPI (M)'s startegy if the Congress-led UPA
Government sought the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
its allies to get the proposal for privatisation of airports approved in
Parliament, he said the Congress party had supported the NDA policy of
opening the insurance sector in last Parliament. "In the case of
privatisation of airports, we will see when the issue comes up. Both
these parties will be exposed before the public then, '' he said.

Earlier while addressing the protestors of the AAIJEF in front of the
domestic terminal, the CPI (M) leader said it was only under pressure
from the Left parties that the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) stuck to
the privatisation of loss-making public sector units.


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