Congress leader and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot has argued that the Centre’s National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) will lead to more lay-offs by private firms and lead to a rise in unemployment in India.
Speaking to mediapersons at the party office in Bengaluru on September 1, Mr. Pilot said private companies who obtain infrastructure assets of the Central government on lease would not retain the same employees or even the same number of employees. With the intention of making a profit, they would lay off staff in public sector companies, he argued.
The Centre has announced leasing infrastructure assets under a ₹6 trillion National Monetisation Pipeline while retaining ownership.
The Congress leader said the Centre has announced NMP without consultation or discussion in Parliament. He criticised the lack of transparency.
Mr. Pilot said, “Nobody knows what would be the condition of these assets after completion of the lease period.” The government was entering into agreements with crony capitalists, said the Congress leader.
As part of a nationwide plan, Congress has decided to create awareness on NMP and launch protests against the Narendra Modi-led government.
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On expansion of the Ashok Gehlot-led Cabinet at Rajasthan, Mr. Pilot said the party high command would take a decision. Congress general secretary Ajay Maken, who is in charge of Rajasthan, has held a series of meetings with MLAs and State unit leaders in Jaipur, to evolve a consensus on Cabinet expansion.
