Talk to experts, political parties to tide over economic crisis: Mamata to Modi

Speaking to reporters in Murshidabad, Banerjee said, “Our party stands against the disinvestment of PSUs. The government is also planning disinvestment of ordnance factory, BSNL and Air India. Disinvestment of PSUs cannot be the ultimate solution as this move will temporarily solve the crisis as a stopgap measure but cannot bring economic stability in the long run. This will only lead to more severe economic disaster. I feel that the Prime Minister must speak with experts on this, and if needed convene an all-party meeting.”

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet decided to cut shareholding in select public sector firms below 51 per cent to boost revenue collections that have been hit by the slowing economy.

“This country belongs to all of us. The Centre will work as an elected government and we too will work as an elected government. In a positive sense, opinions of all political parties must be taken into account before taking such a decision. There should be no deterioration in employment opportunities. Today, there is no employment opportunities for youth,” said the chief minister.

“Disinvestment of PSUs is no solution. Earlier, the Centre had said only 45 PSUs will witness disinvestment but yesterday it was announced that several more will see disinvestments. The Centre is saying it will get Rs 1.80 lakh crore from this measure. But will it be enough to solve the problem? How many times such measures will be repeated? If that is the case then the entire country will go through disinvestment? This will leave no PSU under the central government’s control. How will the country run? I think this is a serious issue, which requires utmost attention,” added Banerjee.

Questioning the Centre’s decision to amalgamate several PSU banks, the chief minister said the merger of United Bank of India (UBI) with two other banks would pose problems for the state government.

“Several schemes of our government run through banks, so if UBI’s headquarters is shifted out of the state, the future of these schemes might be in question,” she said.

Iterating her criticism of the Centre’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes in 2016, she said, “India is a country where cashless society cannot be effective; people do not have money.”

Meanwhile, Banerjee’s remarks drew sharp reaction from the BJP, which said the CM should focus on Bengal’s development “instead of lecturing the Prime Minister on what is right and wrong”.

The CPM termed Banerjee’s concern over the country’s economic crisis as “crocodile tears”.

Medinipur MP and BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the CM should pay more attention to governance-related matters.

“She can’t govern the state properly and has a habit of lecturing others. In the last eight years, what has she done for the state’s industrial growth? She can’t tackle dengue menace but worries about economy,” Ghosh said.

The CPM, although criticised the Centre’s disinvestment drive, termed Banerjee’s concern over economic crisis as nothing but “crocodile tears”.

“We, too, want the decision to be rolled back. But when Banerjee protests, it is nothing but crocodile tears, because her government has sold several state-owned firms,” CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said.

The TMC had last month staged protest rallies in various parts of the state against Centre’s proposal to sell off PSUs.

(With PTI)