SCs, STs urged to oppose privatisation of PSUs

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Planning Board Vice-Chairman B Vinod Kumar on Thursday said that with the move of privatisation of public sector companies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was doing severe injustice to members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by depriving them of reservations.

Paying tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar during his birth anniversary celebrations at Tank Bund, Vinod Kumar expressed serious concern over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's privatisation measures and stated the move would jeopardise the constitutional reservations given to SCs and STs. He said that public sector companies like LIC, banks, Railways, BSNL, BDL and Postal departments, which were running on profits, would disappear in the coming days. If such central public sector undertakings were privatised, there would be no job opportunities for SCs and STs and even reservations would be lost, he said.

The Planning Board VC said there was an urgent need for everyone, especially SCs, STs and youth, to immediately stop any such move by the Prime Minister.

Demanding the Centre to allow reservations in the appointment of judges, Vinod opined that there was a need to provide opportunities for SC and ST lawyers by elevating them as Supreme Court and High Court judges. As per the Constitution framed by Ambedkar, thousands of people belonging to SC and ST communities were practicing as lawyers in the Supreme Court and High Courts and there should be reservations in the appointment of judges in Supreme Court and High Courts, he demanded.