By ArunPratap Singh
Dehradun, 7 Sep: Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism Ajay Bhatt today trashed what he said were rumours being spread about privatisation of Defence institutions of the country.
Addressing a press conference here, today, he claimed that under the act that the government had brought recently, only 41 Defence institutions were being brought under seven Defence PSUs. These seven PSUs belonged to the central government only and there was no plan to privatise them. No employee would be harmed by this. Minister Bhatt further asserted that the country was completely safe under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said that the Modi Government had given freedom to the armed forces to take decisions. He also said there was no intention of the central government to privatise any ordnance factory anywhere. In view of further improvement in the functioning of 41 Ordnance Factories, seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings would be formed, which would be completely under the control of the government only.
Regarding the Devasthanam Board, he favoured repeal. In no uncertain terms, he clearly suggested that the government ought to take decisions according to the public sentiments. He, however, added that a good development was that the state government had constituted a committee in this regard under the chairmanship of senior BJP leader Manohar Kant Dhyani to give its opinion on the matter. Bhatt reminded that, when the board was formed, he had placed the public opinion over the issue before the state government. He added that that he was not saying that the government had taken a wrong decision by constituting the Board but the government also ought to consider the public’s opinion. If the public was not with the decision, then it ought to be reconsidered. With a committee formed regarding this, a suitable decision acceptable to all would be taken keeping public interest in mind.
Ajay Bhatt added that the way roads were being built on the borders in Uttarakhand and other border states was a wonderful development in itself which would go a long way in boosting the morale of the soldiers. Modi had consistently engaged with the army personnel, he reminded.
Bhatt described the ongoing Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Uttarakhand as historic. He added that a large number of people had blessed him during the Yatra and that people were constantly joining the BJP.
The Union Minister admitted that the Corona pandemic had badly affected the tourism sector even in Uttarakhand but added that the Centre was committed to helping revival of the sector in the state. It would help the state on all the tourism sector related schemes and projects with grants.
Present with him on the occasion were BJP leaders Baljit Soni and Shyam Pant.
