Concerned over complaints of retrenchment of workers by some privatised PSU companies, government on Friday said a committee would be set up to go into this aspect. “A committee will be set up to find out to what extent the privatisation of companies like Balco and Modern Foods has harmed the workers,” labour minister Sahib Singh Verma told reporters after an hour-long meeting of trade union leaders with prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee here. A meeting would also be convened by the prime minister to work out strategy for reversing growing unemployment.The labour minister said Vajpayee shared the concerns of trade union leaders on the issue of unemployment and suggested that since there was not much of a scope in the government sectors, jobs should be offered by private sectors to deal with the problem. Vajpayee sought suggestions from the trade union leaders on how to go about tackling unemployment, Verma said. On the issue of disinvestment, he said that a demand for ban on VRS and retrenchment of workers of Balco and Modern Foods was made at the meeting. President of Sangh Parivar affiliated BMS, Hashubhai Dave said the meeting discussed a gamut of issues arising out of globalisation.
