Trade unions lodge protest against Nalco disinvestment

Rourkela: Hundreds of members belonging to various Central trade unions in Rourkela today staged demonstrations in protest against the Congress-led UPA government’s decision of disinvestment in the State-owned National Aluminium Company (NALCO).

Agitators, raising a banner of protest, staged dharna at Bisra Chowk. The trade union leaders chanted anti-UPA slogans and clamoured for immediate rollback of the decision. They lambasted the Manmohan Singh government for adopting ‘faulty and anti-people policy’.

Launching a diatribe against the UPA, Bishnu Mohanty, General Secretary, CITU, stated that the central government holds 87.15 per cent stake in the Central PSU. He added that the recent decision of the union cabinet to bring down its stake in Nalco to 75 per cent by selling 12.15 per cent of its share to private players is ‘anti-workers’.

The trade union leaders raised a pitch for immediate withdrawal of the decision, stating that the state-owned company has been making profits for the last three decades and the disinvestment will serve nothing but to serve the interests of the private players which acquire the stake.

After the disinvestment decision, the government’s shareholding in the company would come down to 75 per cent and the decision is taken keeping in view the interest of the private companies, they alleged.

AIUTUC district General Secretary Satyapriya Mohanty, Biman Maity, Jahangir Ali, Basant Nayak, Sumanta Behera, Rajkishore Pradhan and Ajit Nayak took part in the demonstration.