Kolkata, Dec 05: Left leaders and organisations in West Bengal have lauded Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for stalling the Pension Reforms Bill that was earlier stonewalled by the Left parties in the UPA -I regime but was reportedly reintroduced before the Cabinet on Friday.
Kali Ghosh, the West Bengal unit secretary of CPM’s labour arm CITU, said her stand will eventually benefit employees and workers but wondered how long she will be able to maintain her resistance to the Bill. “If she has opposed the Bill, I must welcome her,” said Ghosh.
The Bill, which aims to allow foreign capital into the financial sector, has been facing resistance at the Centre. Both the CPM and Trinamool Congress have promised their opposition to economic reforms agenda in their respective election manifesto. With Banerjee trying to build a Leftist image in the state to woo Left voters, she is bound to resist the Bill, Left leaders say.
“She has promised not to allow disinvestment, pension reforms and other reforms agenda in her election manifesto. With all doubts, I should say she has followed the path shown by the Left parties,” said Md Selim, CPM central committee member and former MP.
Though Left leaders welcomed Banerjee’s stand, CPM-backed State Government Employees Co-Ordination Committee said it was the Left that actually put the Bill into cold-storage. “Why did not she oppose disinvestment of public sector units?” asked Jyotiprosad Basu, a senior leader of the committee.
–Agencies