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BSP changes focus BHOPAL, Sept 23: After being toppled from power in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has centred all its attention on ...more CM unveils portrait of shaheed Udham Singh CHANDIGARH, Sep 23: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today exhorted younger generations to seek inspiration from the history of freedom ....more Humanity
not yet BHUBANESWAR, Sept 23: The judge while sentencing Dara Singh, the main perpetrator behind the brutal killing of Australian missionary Graham ....more Kalyan appears before Liberhan Commission NEW DELHI, Sept 23: After maintaining for years that he would not depose, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today sprang a surprise .....more |
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Centre bypassed MCI NEW DELHI, Sept 23: The Supreme Court today said the Centre has prima facie bypassed the Medical Council . .....more Induction
of new ships MUMBAI, Sept 23: The induction of new stealth frigates of ‘Talwar’ and ‘Shivalik’ class, besides the acquisition of ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral . ......more Pro-Jogi,
anti-Jogi RAIPUR, Sept 23: A fierce campaign is gradually building up for the first ever assembly .....more NEW DELHI, Sep 23: The Government has cleared the raising of two Agni-specific missile groups by the Army.....more |
BSP changes focus to MP, Chhattisgarh BHOPAL, Sept 23: After being toppled from power in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has centred all its attention on Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in an attempt to emerge as a third alternative in the year-end assembly election. A massive rally, organised here on Sunday last and addressed by party chief Mayawati, was a show of strength. The BSP plans to stage another rally in Raipur on September 28. The party leaders describe the show of strength as "an indication of emergence as a third alternative" while the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party’s senior leaders say that such rallies "keep taking place during election time and there is no possibility of these having any special impact in Madhya Pradesh." It is believed that the BSP exercises influence in the Vindhya region, which borders Uttar Pradesh, and Gwalior-Chambal division. In the 1998 Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, a dozen of the party’s candidates were elected though as many as eight of them later defected to the Congress camp. "In the assembly elections, my party shall certainly play a crucial role and other political outfits may have to look in our direction," BSP state unit president Phool Singh Baraiya claimed during an interaction with UNI. "My goal was to demonstrate the BSP’s power before the ruling Congress and main opposition BJP through the medium of the rally. I have achieved success," he added. According to Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Rajkumar Patel, such rallies were organised by every political party during poll time. "There isn’t much steam in talk about the BSP emerging as a third alternative just by witnessing the September 21 event," he claimed. On the other hand, a senior BJP leader said that if the BSP did emerge, his party would be "helped in its advance since the difference between victory and defeat depends only on 1.5 to two per cent of votes." However, he added that the "premature" talk about the BSP emerging as a third alternative amounted to "dishonesty." In Madhya Pradesh’s 230-member Vidhan Sabha, the Congress had 127 legislators, while the BJP had 82, BSP and Samajwadi Party four each. The Republican Party of India, Janata Party, Janata Dal and Ajeya Party had one MLA each. There were seven independents. Two seats fell vacant due to the deaths of a Congressman and a BJP member. (UNI) |
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CM unveils portrait of shaheed Udham Singh CHANDIGARH, Sep 23: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today exhorted younger generations to seek inspiration from the history of freedom struggle as the Indian history was replete with in-numerable instances of selfless sacrifice and patriotism. Addressing on the occasion of ‘Sanman Samaroh’ held here at Punjab Vidhan Sabha to honour the freedom fighter legislators and their next of kin, Singh said that those nations that did not attribute any importance to the history were bound to be doomed. He said that though our students were taught history at all levels but we should make concerted efforts to introduce this subject in such a manner that it should act as a source of guiding spirit for the future generations to imbibe the feelings of nationalism, communal harmony and universal brotherhood. Singh said that it was really a matter of pride for all of us to honour the freedom fighters as they had made an outstanding contribution towards the noble cause of freedom struggle. He appreciated the efforts of Dr Kewal Krishan, Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha in organising this function in order to pay a befitting tribute to the freedom fighters. Ealier, Singh unveiled the portrait of shaheed Udham Singh, a great martyr in the Vidhan Sabha gallery, who avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by killing Sir Michael o’Dwyer at Caxton Hall, London on 13th March 1940 after long period of 21 years. Singh also announced to convert and develop the ancestral house of shaheed Udham Singh at Sunam as a museum on the pattern of Khatkar Kalan, the native village of shaheed Bhagat Singh as a homage to a great martyr. Singh also said that a committee led by Lal Singh, Finance Minister would soon go to London to negotiate with U K Government to bring back the personal belongings of shaheed Udham Singh including a revolver, few currency notes, clothes and books. Singh also launched a website www.punjabassembly.nic.in to enable the people to have relevant information pertaining to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and honoured Raj Babbar, MP Rajya Sabha and a noted film actor for his stupendous efforts for making a film on the life of shaheed Udham Singh. In his welcome address, Dr Kewal Krishan, Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha said that it was far more important to preserve the hard earned freedom as we had achieved it after a long saga of trials and tribulations. He said that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha organised a year long golden jubilee celebrations of Vidhan Sabha and also honoured the next of kin of the MLAs who were killed during the decade long terrorism in the state. Speaking on the occasion, Babbar said that the 90 per cent of the sacrifices during the freedom struggle had been made by the Punajbis alone and underlined the need to highlight this aspect through the medium of film and TV. Singh along with Dr Kewal Krishan honoured as many as 11 out of 68 freedom fighter legislators in persons and remaining were honoured through their next of kins with a memento and shawl.(PTI) |
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Humanity not yet fully civilised : court BHUBANESWAR, Sept 23: The judge while sentencing Dara Singh, the main perpetrator behind the brutal killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, to the gallows, has observed that the Manoharpur massacre spoke loudly that humanity is not yet fully civilised. "This is one of the rarest of rare cases and survival of an orderly society demands imposition of capital punishment," the District and Sessions Judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik said in the 153-page judgement delivered in a jampacked court room yesterday. The Court, while sentencing Dara to death, awarded life imprisonment to the rest 12 convicts. By burning two innocent small boys along with their father while they were asleep, Dara Singh, "the prima donna of the offence, has added a new chapter to the rhyme book of children which may read like this : I met murder on the way. It had a massacre like Dara Singh," the judgement said. Dara Singh, like knight errant of crime, had formed a militant group of local tribals to physically liquidate Staines in the belief that with the Australian missionary the spread of Christianity would be burried in the area. The rest of the convicts, being gullible tribals, blindly followed him and as such they deserved justice tempered with mercy, it said. Stating that the "Manoharpur massacre speaks loudly that humanity is not yet fully civilised," the Court described Dara as the ambassador of death, who deserved death. A criminal has no religion, it observed stating "what sin had the two small boys committed ?" "We have just enough religion to make us hate each other and not enough religion to make us love each other," it said quoting Jonathan Swift. Dealing with the sequence of events leading to the Macabre killings, deposition of the prosecution witnesses and presentation of the defence, the Court sentenced all the convicts to life imprisonment under sections 120 B and 302 of IPC and varying terms for other offences. Dara was given capital punishment under section 302 of IPC for which he was separately charged. The Court directed that he should be hanged by the neck till he is dead. The District Judge read out the operative part of the judgement after ignoring the plea of the defence counsel for awarding the minimum sentence against Dara in view of the illness of his father. The death sentence is subject to confirmation by Orissa High Court. Justifying the capital punishment meted out to Dara, the Judge said there were well settled judgements of Supreme Court which had laid down the principle that punishment of death should be reserved only for the rarest of rare cases. The Court was expected to consider whether the circumstances of the crime were such that there was no alternative but to impose death sentence after according maximum weightage to the mitigating circumstances which speak in favour of the offender. The Court had convicted 13 persons, including Dara on September 15 while acquitting another accused Aniruddha Dandapat alias Andha Nayak for want of sufficient evidence against him. The sentences, which would run concurrently, were awarded yesterday after hearing the counsels for CBI and the accused persons. While rejecting the defence contention that the vehicle, in which the Staines were sleeping had caught fire due to an electric short-circuit in its battery, the trial Judge also overruled the objections by defence counsel about discrepancies in the deposition of the prosecution witnesses. The witnesses were rustic tribals who had deposed in the Court after a long lapse of time. Since there were large number of assailants and they had seen the occurrence from different angles and distance, their evidence was bound to differ in minor details. Besides, all of them were not endowed with the same degree of intelligence, he said. The circumstances culminating in the gruesome tragedy led to the irresistible conclusion that there was an agreement among the accused persons to commit the murder of the Staines. The Judge also referred to the extra-judicial confession made by Dara Singh before two prosecution witnesses which the accused had subsequently retracted. A retracted extra judicial confession can also legally form the basis of conviction when it is fortified with corroboration from independent sources as in the present case, it said. (PTI) |
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Pro-Jogi, anti-Jogi campaigns to dominate Chhattisgarh polls RAIPUR, Sept 23: A fierce campaign is gradually building up for the first ever assembly elections in Chhattisgarh with the ruling Congress and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party having high stakes and other parties flexing their muscles to emerge as a ‘third force’ in the Bipolar state. The focus of the campaign could turn out to be ‘pro-Jogi and anti-Jogi’ with parties such as the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) targetting Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s style of functioning since the new state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh three years ago. Besides the Congress and the BJP, NCP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Gondwana Gantanta Party (GGP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and a joint front of Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxsist), Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) have also decided to field their candidates in the November polls. With 90 assembly seats - 43 of them reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes - at stake, the NCP and the BSP are separately trying to force Triangular or multi-cornerned contests in most of the constituencies with the hope that they could emerge as a ‘balancing force’ in the post poll scenario. Banking mainly on the development initiatives taken by the Ajit Jogi Government during the past three years, the ruling Congress appeared to be pro-active than other parties in preparations for the election campaign. For the last few months, the Chief Minister has made it a point to address at least two to three public meetings a day, even in the remote tribal areas, and making personal contact with the people. Besides, he is also attending meetings and conventions of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes to "make these sections aware about their rights". Cut-outs of Mr Jogi and hoardings, listing the achievements of the Jogi Government, have come up at several places in almost all the constituencies, inviting criticism from opposition parties which alleged that the ruling party has started misusing official machinery with an eye on the elections. On the other hand, the BJP has already indicated that its campaign would mainly focus on the the Chief Minister’s style of functioning and issues such as rampant corruption. "Our campaign will focus on Mr Jogi. He is responsible for engineering splits in opposition parties and fanning casteism. We have felt that there is a strong undercurrent against him even in rural area," claimed state BJP general secretary Chandra Shekhar Sahu. He told UNI that during the past three years, Mr Jogi made repeated attempts to weaken the opposition, forced even Gram Panchayat office-bearers at many places to join the Congress and used brute police force to crush all democratic forms of agitation on several occasions. Similarly, the NCP, headed by veteran leader and former Union Minister Vidya Charan Shukla, is also gearing up to unleash an agressive campaign, personally targetting Mr Jogi. Already allegations and counter-allegations between NCP and Congress are flying thick and fast and both the parties have started issuing advertisments in local newspapers over the controversy over Mr Jogi’s tribal status. "For us, development is the major poll issue. We will seek a positive vote from the people for performance of Jogi Government," said state Congress spokesman Shailesh Nitin Trivedi. He said the BJP and the NCP were trying to personally target Mr Jogi as they have nothing to say about the performance of the State Government. They were aware that Chhattisgarh had developed much more than two other newly formed states of Jharkhand and Uttaranchal, he added. The CPI, CPI(M), CMM and LSP have formed a front to contest for about 40 out of the 90 seats. CPI state secretary Chittaranjan Bakshi said the front had finalised its strategy, which could help it in opening an account in the Vidhan Sabha. "In other constituencies, our strategy will be to ensure BJP’s defeat," he added. Similarly, State BSP president Dauram Ratnakar said his party would contest the elections without having any electoral understanding with other parties. He said both the Congress and the BJP had so far treated Dalits and other weaker sections as mere vote bank, without giving them any opportunity to come forward and participate in the process of development. "We are working to emerge as a balancing force in the state’s politics," he said. Traditionally Chhattisgarh, which was part of Madhya Pradesh till the new state was carved out in November 2000, has been a Bipolar state with only the Congress and the BJP having their presence. While the BSP had influence in few constituencies dominated by Scheduled Castes, the Left parties’ presence was just confined to some pockets in tribal Bastar region. However, the NCP came into the political scene in April this year after veteran Congress leader V C Shukla resigned from the party to join the NCP. The NCP has now set up its party units at the district level, wooing Congressmen to its fold and gearing up for the elections with the hope that the party could win a number of seats and play a crucial role after the elections. Congress leaders hold divergent views over the possible fall-out of the presence of NCP, led by Mr V C Shukla, in the fray on the prospects of the ruling party. Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has been maintaining that the contest would be directly between the Congress and the BJP and there was no scope for a ‘third front’ in the state. He felt that the Bipolar nature of the region would continue to remain so in the coming elections. However, some of the senior leaders felt that it may not be politically wise to under-estimate a party, now headed by Mr Shukla, who had been active in Congress and national politics for nearly five decades. They also visualise the possibility of some partymen switching over to the NCP, if they fail to get Congress tickets to contest the elections. There is also a perception in the ruling party that the NCP’s presence could benefit the Congress as the anti-incumbancy votes, which could have otherwise gone to the BJP, could split resulting in division of opposition votes. Meanwhile, the BJP did not project anyone as its candidate for Chief Minister’s post in Chhattisgarh as it has done in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi for the coming elections. The BJP leadership has announced that the poll campaign would be led jointly by state party chief Dr Raman Singh, Union Minister of State for Mines Ramesh Bais and Union Minister of State for Forest and Environment Dilip Singh Judeo, describing it as its strategy for the elections. Leader of the opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Nandkumar sai, a senior tribal leader who was state party president of undivided Madhya Pradesh, has not not been included in this team. Amidst reports about groupism within the BJP, Mr Judeo announced to undertake a ‘Ashwamedh Rath Yatra’ all over the state. But, other leaders have reportedly registered their protest with senior party functionaries against this yatra, which they felt was an attempt by the minister to project himself as a candidate for Chief Ministership. However, Mr Judeo had clarified at a press conference that though he was capable to become the Chief Minister, he was not in the race for the post. Denying groupism in the party, state BJP president Dr Raman Singh said all the leaders would follow the party line for the campaign and there was no dispute over it. About the proposed rath yatra of Mr Judeo, he quipped, "people prefer different types of vehicles for undertaking tours." Though the BJP is yet to launch its campaign, the party has brought out a chargesheet against the Jogi Government, raising issues like the controversy over Mr Jogi’s tribal status, cases of alleged corruption and increase in religious conversions since the formation of the state. In the 1998 assembly elections, when Chhattisgarh was part of Madhya Pradesh, the Congress had won 48 seats while the BJP candidates had won from 36 constituencies in this region. The BSP had won three seats, Gondwana Gantantra Party got a seat and independents candidates had won two seats. In the 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh region, the Congress had then polled 39.61 per cent votes, while the BJP had secured 39.02 per cent votes. The BSP polled a mere 5.60 per cent. (UNI) |
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NEW DELHI, Sep 23: The Government has cleared the raising of two Agni-specific missile groups by the Army for immediate operational deployment as short- and medium-range nuclear-capable missile units. The clearance was accorded earlier this month by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) thereby initiating the operational induction of the indigenously developed Agni missiles system. The Army headquarters have named the new units as the 334 Missile Group — to be armed with the 700 km short-range Agni I missile — and the 335 missile group — to field the 1,500 km medium-range Agni II missile. The actual raising of these new units, for which the Army has already earmarked manpower, is expected to begin near Secunderabad, says a new defence magazine force in its latest issue. The Army is presently raising these new units from its own financial resources with the Government’s financial sanction expected to be released shortly. The Government has also cleared the raising of two new Prithvi missile groups by the Army which would be named the 444 and 555 missile groups. The Army already has two Prithvi missile groups (222 and 333) already deployed. The new Prithvi missile groups would be operational by the beginning of 2005 with the actual raising also to be done at Secunderabad depending on financial allocations made by the Government. According to the magazine, so far only the 333 Prithvi missile group — armed with liquid-propellant missiles — was complete and formed part of the newly-raised 40 Artillery Division which had moved to its permanent location in Madhya Pradesh. The 333 missile group was armed with the 150km-range liquid-propellant Prithvi missiles capable of carrying a 1000 kg payload. The missile group has two independent sub-groups self-contained for independent deployment. Force claimed that the Government planned to arm the Prithvi missiles with only conventional warheads as a means of degrading enemy theatre and strategic reserves before they could become effective in tactical battle area.(UNI) Lower judiciary should be rid of deadwood and corrupt: SC NEW DELHI, Sep 23: In a significant judgement aimed at maintaining the efficacy and integrity of the justice delivery system, the Supreme Court today said that the High Courts should undertake periodic evaluation of presiding officers in the lower judiciary to rid it of deadwood and corrupt judges. Dismissing the appeals filed by three judges who were compulsorily retired from the Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service, a bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice A R Lakshmanan said it was a must for the High Courts to undertake repeated scrutiny of the service records of judicial officers. Terming the lower judiciary as the "foundation of the judicial system", Justice Shah, writing for the bench, said "we hope the High Courts would take appropriate steps regularly for weeding out the deadwood or the persons polluting the justice delivery system." "Judicial service is not a service in the sense of employment," the apex court said and added as they were discharging their duties in exercise of the "sovereign judicial power of the state", their honesty and integrity was expected to be beyond doubt. Their honesty and integrity should be reflected in their overall reputation, Justice Shah said. "The nature of judicial service is such that it cannot afford to suffer continuance in service of persons of doubtful integrity or who have lost their utility," he added. The three judges were compulsorily retired after they attained the age of 58 years. This decision was taken by a committee of the High Court judges and their appeal against the decision of the committee was rejected by the High Court on the judicial side. Rejecting the appeals, the apex court said "if such evaluation is done by the committee of the High Court judges and is affirmed in the writ petitions, except in very exceptional circumstances, the court would interfere with the same particularly because order of compulsory retirement is based on subjective satisfaction of the authorities." Referring to the allegations that the charges of corruption were not being proved by direct evidence, the bench said that it was impossible to get positive evidence to arrive at a conclusion that a presiding officer was of doubtful integrity. "In the present system, reliance is required to be placed on the higher officer who had the opportunity to watch the performance of the concerned officer from close quarters and formation of opinion with regard to overall reputation enjoyed by the concerned officer would be the basis," it said. Justice Shah reiterated that to keep the stream of justice unpolluted, repeated scrutiny of service records of judicial officers after a specified age or completion of specified years of service was a must by each and every High Court as the lower judicial was the foundation of the judicial system in India.(PTI) Banks fight shy of giving farm loans in Kerala THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Sep 23 : The "risky nature" of agricultural operations and the tedium of processing a large number of loans of small amounts at frequent intervals are the most commonly cited reasons for banks to fight shy of giving agricultural credit in Kerala. While going out of their way to woo corporate borrowers and giving housing finance and car loans on increasingly easier terms, banks do avoid giving loans to farmers, despite mandatory guidelines, admit bankers. According to senior officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) posted in the state capital, the nationalised banks’ offtake to the agricultural sector hovers around 14 per cent, short of the stipulated 18 per cent of total lending. The banks are also yet to implement the nine per cent interest rate announced by the Central Government for agricultural loans. The interest rates are generally pegged between 10.5 per cent and 12 per cent by cooperative banks and 10 to 14 per cent by commercial banks. Foreign banks prefer to invest in NABARD bonds to fulfil their obligation of rural credit, RBI officials told UNI. While collateral security is not essential for small loans, farmers do find it difficult to get credit in the absence of credible collateral, bankers say. "Often, farmers are made to run around for providing security or completing the paper work, only because the banks want to avoid giving them loans," admit insiders. However, others also aver that for banks fighting a huge burden of NPAs, agricultural land is not viewed as a creditable commodity. "Banks do view land collateral as a risky proposition, specially when in a number of cases there are family disputes about ownership," they add. Among the main reasons cited for banks to be wary of farm loans are the "risky" nature of the activity. With agricultural being mainly dependent on the Monsoon, there is no guarantee on the crop production. In years of drought, such as last year, loan repayment becomes impossible for farmers. The other reason cited by bankers is the nature of agricultural credit. Unlike corporate loans, where huge sums are doled out to a few businessmen or industrialists, agricultural credit involves smaller amounts of money, given to a larger number of people, who need the money at more frequent intervals. While this does spread the risk incurred by the banks, it also entails a larger amount of paperwork, which is a growing bugbear in a sector hit by VRS. In Kerala, where growing labour and other costs have resulted in a crash in crop production, agricultural loans are taken more for plantation and cash crops. The maximum amount of loans in the state are cornered by the tertiary sector, followed by the primary (agriculture) and then the secondary (manufacturing). According to official figures, the total amount disbursed as agricultural credit by cooperative and commercial banks in Kerala during 2002-03 was Rs 3514.19 crore. With better monsoon rains and the farmers’ experimentation with new cash crops such as vanilla, bankers are expecting an estimated 20 per cent increase in agricultural credit this year. This would be higher than the average hike of 12 to 13 per cent, they say. Till August this year, an amount of Rs 321 crore had been disbursed under the head of agricultural loans. While interest rates have come down for purchase of tractors and other machinery, it is the small and the marginal farmers who are the biggest beneficiaries of loans. In a state flush with NRI remittances, people prefer to borrow from family members and relatives rather than institutions. Among the suggestions made by the bankers for improving agricultural offtake are crop insurance, a price stabilisation fund and institutional mechanisms to meet the information gap between what the market needs and what the farmer produces. All these would help to make agriculture a less risky and more market-oriented activity. To this end, nabard is in the process of setting up ‘Agricultural Export Zones’ (AEZs) in nine of Kerala’s 14 districts, with the stress on value addition to the produce. (UNI) Chautala spending Rs ten crore on Devi Lal rally : Surjewala CHANDIGARH, Sept 23: Indian Youth Congress (IYC) today charged Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala of plundering over Rs ten crore including from public exchequer and misusing state machinery and defacing public property to organise the rally on the occasion of birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister and Chautala’s father late Devi Lal on Thursday. "The spending of this huge money from public exchequer as well as private funds in preparation for the rally at Karnal is being done to promote Chautala, his sons and his party the INLD...This is in gross violation of constitutional norms as also yardstick of public spending by government," IYC president Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here. Surjewala alleged that the entire state administration was being misused "to collect men, money and material for the rally. In fact, for the past one month entire official machinery has been busy in making arrangements for the rally and a camp office in this regard has been opened at the rally venue". He alleged that public and private property all over the State had been cruelly and criminally defaced with paintings and slogans and hoardings eulogising Chautala and his family. In Rohtak, leader of opposition in Haryana Assembly and State Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleged that the state had been experiencing "dictatorship" of the father sons trio of Chief Minister Chautala and his two sons - Ajay Singh and Abhay Singh - for over four years. Addressing a series of village-level public meeting at several places in his home constituency -Kiloi- on Monday, former Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Hooda charged that the entire decision making power of the Government had been centralised into the hands of Chautala and his sons while all government functionaries and people’s elected representatives had been rendered powerless. (PTI) MOIL employees threaten to move court over sell-off NEW DELHI, Sept 23: Emboldened by the Supreme Court verdict on privatisation of oil PSUs, Manganese Ore India Ltd (MOIL) employees today threatened to drag the Disinvestment Ministry to court following the rejection of their bid for acquiring majority stake in the company. "We are proposing to take legal action against the Disinvestment Ministry’s move rejecting our expression of interest for buying government’s equity in the company," A P Tiwari, Secretary General of Rashtriya Manganese Mazdoor Sangh, told PTI here. Tiwari said the employees’ initial bid had been rejected on the ground that it failed to meet the turnover criteria specified for bidders at Rs 75 crore. It was unfair on the part of the government to impose the turnover criteria on employees as they could not be treated at par with other corporate entities. Government has decided to sell 51 per cent stake in the mining company to a strategic partner, along with management control. It has mandated merchant banker kpmg to act as global advisor. Madhya Pradesh Government had earlier opted to tag along with ther centre in offloading its 8 per cent stake. The Employees Union said its case had been strengthened by the recent Apex Court’s judgement halting privatisation of oil PSUs without Parliamentary consent. Government had early this year formulated guidelines for employee buy-outs, stipulating that at least 200 employees or 15 per cent of workforce must partake in the process where no turnover criteria would be imposed. A large number of parties, including international players like Metdist Group, have expressed interest in taking over Manganese Ore India Ltd, initial bids for which closed in July. Tiwari questioned the logic behind the government decision to retain the turonver criteria at Rs 75 crore despite offering additional stake to bidders. "It is illogical for the Government to retain the criteria set when Government was planning to sell 51 per cent; the total stake being offered (now) is around 60 per cent", he said. The Union said it planned to point out the "inconsistencies" in the bidding norms to the Central Vigilance Commissioneer (CVC) and demanded that the Centre reinvite bids following the decision to offload more equity. The Centre currently holds 82 per cent stake in the company while the rest is shared between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments. (PTI) |
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