Even The Post Of Chairman Of The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) Has Been Privatized

The Government of India for the first time has appointed Mallika Srinivasan CMD of Tractors and Farm Equipment TAFE Ltd. as the Chair person of Public Enterprises Selection Board. The PESB was without a chairman for the past more than 3 years. The PESB is responsible for the appointment of top management posts in the Public Sector enterprises The Govt. of India has already announced its policy to privatise almost all the Private Sector Enterprises under the control of Government of India.

The Prime Minister has categorically declared  that henceforth Government will not do any business. The Finance Minister has already announced in the Parliament that only the minimal number of Public Sector Enterprises in the most strategic Sectors will be kept with the Government and others all will be privatized.  Privatisation is fastly taking place not only in Public Sector Enterprises, but also in Govt. Sector.  In a phased manner the activities of Railways & Defence is also being privatized. Telecom services are almost privatized. Opposition of many prominent economists and trade unions against ruthless privatization is being totally ignored by the Government. India’s  economy and industrial sector cannot be outrightly handed over to the private sector without understanding its implication on not only the economy but also on the sovereignty of our country.

Already Government has started inducting persons in the name of management experts from private sector to the Government service as Joint Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries through lateral induction. The Government has not stopped with that, now even the Chairman post of the Public Enterprises Selection Board has also been privatized.  This is the first time that an Private Sector Industrialists has been appointed as the Chairperson of the PESB as if nobody in the Govt. is suitable for this post. In due course of time we can see that Secretaries of the Govt. Department and even the Cabinet Secretary may be from the private sector. Ultimately the country’s economy and the country’s governance will come totally under the control of  private corporate houses. Another challenge before the people of the country. The Trade Unions of the Public Sector Enterprises and the Government Sector has to come together to fight against such an evil design of privatizing anything and everything.

Views Expressed here are those of C.Srikumar, Convener of PSU Unions of AITUC