Southern States
-
Kerala
'Antony obeying ADB directives'
By Our Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 7. The all-India general secretary of the AITUC, Gurudas Dasgupta, has said that the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony is obeying the directives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with the aim of getting loan for the State.
Addressing a press conference here today, Mr. Dasgupta said Mr. Antony was obeying the directives of the ADB similar to what was being done by the Prime Minister in the case of the World Bank. The Chief Minister had totally surrendered himself to the ADB, whose aim was to break the trade union set-up in the country, he said.
Mr. Antony was wearing the robe of a BJP worker by following the directives of the ADB. His attitude towards the strike by the Government employees was an example of his arrogance, he said.
Austerity measures should have been introduced at the top level instead of imposing such measures on Government employees, he said.
Mr. Dasgupta said that the disinvestment policies adopted by the Union Government were causing serious concern to the country. Though 25 per cent of the equity of the VSNL had been sold to a multinational company, the dividend paid by the VSNL every year was more than the realisation amount. Similarly, the land value of the hotels which were sold to multinational companies at Udaipur, New Delhi and Mumbai was more than the amount assessed by the Centre, he added.
He said that the CITU would oppose all moves taken by the State Government against the strike. The AITUC would extend its support to the strike and hold rallies and protest marches at all district headquarters in the State on February 11.
The party also decided to observe February as `protest month' and called for a nationwide strike on February 26 against the decision to implement VRS for Central Government employees. A nation-wide protest would also be held on March 14 against what it termed as the `anti-employee policies' of the Union Government. The party would also think of an industrial strike in April if the Union Government went forward with such policies., Mr. Dasgupta said
The State president of the AITUC, C. Divakaran, also spoke.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Southern States
|
