Unpopular Decisions will Backfire

A sense of panic is prevailing in the minds of most employees of public sector undertakings in the wake of the decision by the Union government to hand over a good number of PSUs to private parties, regardless of their financial status. That is to say, even profit-making PSUs are set to be privatized. Unemployed educated youths are wondering about their job prospects in this bleak scenario. Meanwhile, reportedly the decision is almost finalized that three government-owned insurance companies are set be amalgamated, namely United India Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and National Insurance company. Employees of these three organizations are certain that many of them would be asked to avail of voluntary retirement the same way their BSNL counterparts were. IOC, OIL and ONGCL with analogous companies have already got the taste of privatization, being made to hand over production sites or oil wells to private parties. But the decision to privatize Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) will obviously be fought tooth and nail by the people of Assam, as this refinery had been obtained as a part of the historic Assam Accord. The ruling BJP should remember the maxim, ‘As you sow, so will you reap’. Such unpopular steps have already wrought damage to the party as seen recently in the results of municipality elections in Rajasthan.

Ashok Bordoloi

Dibrugarh