Don't privatise ordnance factory: Harish to Centre

Hyderabad: Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Saturday urged the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to halt the privatisation of the Medak Ordnance Factory stating that the privatisation could lead to a loss of strategic autonomy and put the country's security at risk. The Finance Minister wrote a letter to the Defence Minister on Saturday urging him to halt the privatisation of the Medak Ordnance Factory and also the other ordnance factories across the country. Harish Rao argued that these facilities play a critical role in national defence and that privatisation could have significant negative consequences for both the country's security and the thousands of employees who work in these factories.

Harish Rao expressed concern that privatising seven public sector organisations in the defence sector could lead to competition that could hinder the development of new weapons and undermine the Make in India initiative.

He also noted that the Medak Ordnance Factory had sufficient work for its staff in the previous financial year, but that the lack of work in the current financial year could lead to the factory being declared a 'sick industry', resulting in the loss of employment for 2,500 employees directly and 5,000 people indirectly.

Responding to a request from the AyudhaKarmagara Telangana Employees Samakhya, Harish Rao presented six demands to the Union Minister. The demands include rolling back the decision to privatise defence sector enterprises, strengthening research departments, modernising the mission, providing skill training to employees, simplifying administration and procurement procedures, and ordering work for the ordnance factory in line with Army requirements.

He said given the importance of the ordnance factories to national defence and the potential negative impact of privatisation, the minister urged the government to withdraw its decision to privatise these critical facilities. The appeal comes amidst growing concerns about the impact of privatisation on India's defence sector, with some experts warning that privatisation could lead to a loss of strategic autonomy and put the country's security at risk.