Secunderabad , Vijayawada railway stations up for grabs
Under National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) these two will be the first to be leased out, say union leaders
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: In the first phase of the monetisation programme launched by the Central Government, Secunderabad and Vijayawada railway stations will be given on lease to private parties, according to two prominent leaders of insurance employees' organisations.
They said in the name of wrong parking, a person was forced to pay Rs 500 for parking for a few minutes in front of Secunderabad railway station. Now under NMP, the NDA Government is bent upon giving airports, railway stations, stadiums and other vital infrastructure on lease to corporates/private individuals.
TVNS Ravindran, general secretary, South Central Zone Insurance Employees' Federation and K Venugopal, former general secretary of All India Insurance Employees' Association who were here to take part in the 47th annual general conference of Insurance Corporation Employees' Union (ICEU), told Bizz Buzz on Sunday that NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of core government assets worth Rs 6 lakh crore in four years during FY2022-2025.
They said they were exploring various options to challenge the decisions like monetisation and privatisation of LIC before the judiciary. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had already said they had realised Rs 26,000 crore through monetisation of highways and its assets out of Rs 1 lakh crore target set for the current year.
Venugopal and Ravindran said in the campaign against offloading the government share in LIC, they would not only include NMP but also enlist the support of all the unions and federations to build up pressure against the decisions, considered counterproductive for the nation's economy.
Valuation is under process for listing of 5 to 10 per cent of government share in LIC by end of last quarter. They said LIC had contributed 25 per cent internal borrowing and Rs 32 lakh crore towards infrastructure development. It has paid Rs 28,000 crore as dividend to the government. Even when the stock market was in turmoil, LIC came to the rescue of the government, the employees' leaders pointed out.
They also took strong exception to the removal of a cap on disinvestment in general companies stating that the government instead of exploring other options to improve revenue had benefited the corporates and neo rich by slashing corporate tax from 32 to 25 per cent. Selling public assets and monetisation of vital infrastructure would benefit the nation, they remarked.
ICEU Visakhapatnam chapter general secretary N. Ramachandran, president M Kameshswari and media incharge spoke at the conference.
