Strike by HLL staff against disinvestment proposal enters 22nd day

The Central government is using the NITI Aayog as a tool to sell off profit-making public sector units (PSUs), former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said. He said that all such moves would be resisted. He was speaking on Monday after inaugurating the protests on the 22nd day of an indefinite strike by a joint action council of the employees of HLL Lifecare Limited, against the government’s proposed move for 100% disinvestment of the company.

“HLL is one of the PSUs that the country is proud of. It has had a great track record from its early days. It has been making remarkable contributions to the birth control programmes of the Centre. We have heard of governments putting in an effort to improve the fortunes of loss-making PSUs. Here, the government is trying to sell off a company that is making huge profits. The HLL has been running profitably for the past 50 years, and giving profit dividend to the Union government every year,” said Mr. Chandy.

He said the Central government was also trying to sell off the Hindustan Newsprint Limited in Kottayam, which generated considerable profits.

“The Planning Commission, set up by Jawaharlal Nehru, played a key role in the industrial growth of our country. The NITI Aayog, which was created after dissolving the Planning Commission, is now trying to destroy all the PSUs and stunt the country’s development,” said Mr. Chandy.

Nandakumar, general secretary of the INTUC, said the company had net revenues of ₹1,081 crore last year, but the government, in its privatisation move, had notified it as worth only ₹487 crore. “The HLL is running 5 lakh medical shops. It has scanning centres and labs attached to all medical colleges. It has six subsidiary companies and one joint venture. They are selling off all of these and even the Research and Development division. The employees here put in all their efforts consistently, with a productivity of 110% every month,” he said.

G. Rajmohan, former Chairman of HLL, said it was heartening to see all the trade unions coming together for a common cause.