Modi govt selling national assets worth Rs 6 lakh cr: Mukul Wasnik

Guwahati, Sep 1 (IANS) Congress General Secretary and former central minister Mukul Wasnik on Wednesday said that as part of the "Sale of Indias Assets by BJP", the Modi government has undertaken the sale of Rs 6 lakh crore worth of Indias national properties created over the last 67 years.

Wasnik said that the "For Sale" of India's hard-earned assets is the single biggest "anti-national" act. The national properties are being sold -- rather squandered away by the Modi government as a "clearance sale".

"The Rs six lakh crore sale of India's properties is shocking as the Modi government has put India's every public asset on sale," the AICC general secretary told the media in Guwahati.

He released a list of the national assets, which according to the Congress leader are being sold by the Modi government. These include, 27,000 kms of highways, 6,000 MW of power generation and 28,000 kms of power transmission lines, 8,000 kms of gas pipeline, 210 lakh metric ton of foodgrain storage, 2.86 lakh kms of telecom fibre and 15,000 telecom towers, 25 airports, nine ports, 761 mining blocks, two national stadiums, 1.52 lakh crore worth of railway property.

Wasnik claimed that along with ‘disinvestment' and ‘privatisation', the Modi government has now hit upon the idea of ‘monetisation', that is, transferring effective ownership of public assets created over the last 67 years to a handful of crony friends, while the government will hang on to a piece of paper of ownership that will only be returned to the government at the end of 30 to 50 years.

The government and its chosen bureaucrats have confessed that they are incompetent to maintain and utilise public sector assets -- railway, ports, roads, gas pipelines, transmission lines, telecom towers, stadia, he said.

"Two consequences will definitely follow. Firstly, income from the government owned public assets will not be available to the nation or its future generations for the long lease period of 30 to 50 years.

"Secondly, opportunities for India's poor and people belonging to SC, ST, OBC in the shape of reservation in jobs or investments in underdeveloped areas will be finished," the Congress leader said.

Wasnik accompanied by Assam Congress President Bhupen Kumar Borah and Working Presidents Rana Goswami and Kamalakhsya Dey Purksyastha, supported the state leaders' decision to snap ties with their allies -- the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF).

The Assam Congress after a core committee meeting on Monday announced that the AIUDF and BPF would no longer be partners of the party led 'Mahajot' (Grand Alliance) in the state.

Borah, who presided over the core committee meeting, had told the media that the party has decided to sever the alliance with the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF and tribal party BPF.