The Communist Party of India-Marxist Tuesday warned the government of serious consequences for going ahead with the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, while billing the modernisation process as not only "a mockery of transparency" but "breach" of agreement with the Airports Authority of India employees.
"Making a mockery of transparency, the signing of the agreements have taken place at a point of time, when charges of irregularity are still under judicial scrutiny," the party politbureau said in a statement.
Further, the act of signing the agreements with GMR and GVK Groups for Delhi and Mumbai airports was "a violation of the commitment of the government given to the AAI employees that all issues including modernisation of airports will be discussed in a government-AAI employees tripartite committee".
"This act of the government, ahead of such discussion in the tripartite committee, is a clear breach of that agreement," the CPI-M said.
Observing that the United Progressive Alliance's Common Minimum Programme has explicitly stated that profit-making PSUs would not be privatised, it said the agreements would allow private parties to operate, maintain, finance and manage the two most major airports in the country.