The NDA government is proposing to take over the surplus land of the Central PSUs and hand it over for manufacturing and infrastructure projects to the private companies.

It is estimated that there are about 2.5 lakhs acres of land with the central PSUs all over the country. Coal India Limited and Steel Authority of India with 7 lakh and 1.5 lakh acres respectively have the maximum land assets. BSNL has got 14,000 acres. But all these are not surplus and are being used by the PSUs. But there may be some surplus land. The government has called for the details of the land assets of the PSUs to find out how much is the land assets and how much is the surplus.

This is another step to destabilise the PSUs. The government may want to sell the surplus land, but even before any such policy is chalked out, it has started selling land. The Telegraph Place in Gole Market area, where the quarters are allotted to BSNLEU and also to R.III Union(NFPE) of Department of Posts,  has been sold to the Jharkhand Government, even without intimating the Department of Posts, BSNL or MTNL, all of who have got staff quarters there. Only because of the stay granted by the Delhi High Court, the place could not be taken over by the Jharkhand Government.

In such a situation, even the land assets being currently used by the PSUs may be taken away and sold by the government to please the corporates by selling these assets in the centre place of cities at cheap rates. The loss is for the PSUs and the government and the benefit is for the corporate and big business as also the ruling parties.

The Management of the PSUs and the Unions should take care to protest and safeguard the assets of the nation.  The people has got a right to know what is happening to their assets.