Kathmandu, Dec 10 (RSS): Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat has said that His Majesty’s Government has moved ahead the process of privatisation by remaining within the framework of all its social responsibilities.

Addressing the two-day workshop on “Privatisation and role of trade unions” organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) here today, Dr. Mahat said His Majesty’s Government is not making any profit from the privatisation process. It is completely wrong to accuse the government of privatising the public undertakings haphazardly, he added.

Stressing the need to refine the existing Labour Act, Dr. Mahat said that if the number of present employees continues to remain the same, two-thirds of the expenditure incurred on the salary of the employees in the next 15 years will have to spent on their pension.

Professor R. R. Venkataraman and Dr. Narayan Manandhar had presented working papers on “Privatisation and role of trade union: Before, during and after privatisation” and “Privatisation in Nepal: A study of two cases” respectively.

ILO Director Leyla Tegmo-Reddy stressed the need to hold consultations with the labour organisations before privatisation of any untertaking.

President of DECONT Rajendra Raut, joint secretary of GEFONT Bishnu Rimal and general secretary of NTUC Puskar Acharya expressed the view that the privatisation process has been unsuccessful in Nepal.

Thousands of employees have been rendered jobless and the trade unions were not consulted while privatising public undertakings, they lamented.

From the chair, secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management Poshnath Rimal said that it was necessary to privatise the public undertakings in order to provide them autonomy.

Senior ILO specialist on workers activities D.P.A. Naidu also expressed his views on privatisation and role of trade unions.