Vocal critic: Govt planning mass privatisation, says Sirajul Haq

National Labour Federation delegation calls on JI chief at Mansoora

LAHORE: The government is planning mass privatisation of state-owned enterprises, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Senator Sirajul Haq said on Monday.

He was talking to a National Labour Federation delegation at Mansoora. “The JI will strongly resist any privatisation attempt and protect workers’ rights,” Haq said.

Sirajul Haq said that privatisation in the past had created numerous problems, including unemployment.

“The government has not conducted any assessment of the results achieved through past privatisation attempts,” he said. Haq said that the privatisation was being conducted on the directions of international monetary institutes.

“There is a plan to sell as many as 68 national institutions for throwaway prices. Most of the people interested in purchasing these units are connected to the government. This shows that the process will not be transparent,” he said.

The JI chief said that it was the duty of the government to utilise its energies to strengthen national institutions and create jobs. “However, the rulers are orchestrating a loot sale of state-owned enterprises,” he said.

Haq said that the enterprises had assets worth billions of rupees. “National and foreign companies have their eyes on them. Workers and farmers of the country are leading miserable lives. Their children are deprived of education and health facilities. Exploitation in the society has crossed all limits. The rich are growing richer, the poor are getting poorer,” he said.

Haq said that most of the economic resources were in the hands of the elite. “The poor are unable to get two meals per day. Industrial development in the country is largely due to the hard work of labourers, but they have not received a fair deal from the government or their employers,” he said.

The JI chief said that the labour laws framed at provincial level after the 18th Amendment were not in the spirit of the Constitution and should be reviewed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2015.