Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has termed the Center’s National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) as a “sale of public assets” and threatened to aggressively oppose the plan.
BMS general secretary Girishchandra Arya told reporters on Friday that the organisation would hold demonstrations on October 28 against the government’s plan to raise 6 lakh crore in the next 4 years by monetizing assets such as highways, passenger trains, airports, railway stations, stadiums and warehousing facilities.
He alleged that the plan had not been discussed thoroughly by the government and is being promoted by some “Harvard Economists”.
“If the government does not listen to our protest, we will expand our agitation to include people like vendors and transporters and others who benefit from the operations of the public sector undertakings that are being proposed to be privatized,” Arya said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the ownership will return back to the government once the lease period ends.
A number of trade unions including the Center of Indian Trade Unions backed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), the CPI backed All India Trade Union Congress and the Congress-supported Indian National Trade Union Congress are also holding separate protests against the MNP, fearing a rise in prices and loss of jobs.