The Hindu Business Line : Bengal keen to reform State PSUs

THE West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has reiterated his firm commitment to reforming of the State PSU sector. The State has a total of 56 PSUs, mostly taken over from private entrepreneurs. A large number of these PSUs are sick.

Addressing a meeting at the Ramakrishna Mission Silpamandira at Belur in Howrah, Mr Bhattacharjee said that the State Government would no longer burden itself with the financial liabilities of sick PSUs.

"For decades we paid the wages and salaries of these sick units, but no more. Those units which could not be revived would either be divested or closed." His comments came in reference to Ramakrishna Mission's efforts to impart technical training to the replaced workforce of such closed or divested units. On technical education in the State, he said that keeping in mind the long pending demand for more engineering colleges, the State Government had invited private investment in higher education. In the last three years, the number of engineering colleges in West Bengal had gone up from nine to 57. The State had also received the Centre's approval to set up three more medical collages. Mr Bhattacharjee admitted, "Close to 14 lakh children still remain out of the reach of primary education in Bengal. We have to rectify the situation at the earliest."

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