CITU opposes government's move to privatise airports

NEW DELHI: The Centre of Indian Trade Unions ( CITU) today opposed the central government's attempts to hand over management of vital infrastructure like airports to private corporates and called upon all the trade unions to come together and resist the move.

"CITU strongly opposes the retrograde move of the Government to privatise vital revenue earning airports of the country," CITU said in a statement here.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government wants to handover only those airports to the private firms which are high traffic and revenue airports and in which it has already invested Rs 5,000 crore public money, the statement claimed.

"This proves beyond doubt that its a calculated move to transfer huge public assets to domestic and foreign corporate houses virtually as gift enabling them to earn huge revenue and amass enormous profit without any capital investment," CITU said in the statement.

The statement came a day after Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi said that the government will do whatever was in the "interest" of the country as far as airport privatisation is concerned.

Private corporates including Tata and Adani groups and existing airport operators GMR and GVK groups besides some foreign players are eyeing the management, operations and development of the Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur Airports, for which the government had invited Request For Qualification last month.

Condemning the "authoritarian attitude" of the Civil Aviation Minister on the issue, CITU urged the government not to ignore the protests by thousands of the Airports Authotrity of India (AAI) employees last Wednesday, who have also threatened to block airports across the country if the government does not stop the process.