Karwar: The CITU has denounced the changes made by the Modi-led BJP government to ease FDI in nine key sectors, including defense, aviation, pharmaceutical and food processing.

CITU general secretary of Uttara Kannada district, Yamuna Gaonkar, said the decision to ease norms to increase FDI in strategic and sensitive sectors like defense and aviation’s shows the submissive attitude of the government to the interests of the big multinational corporations and its willingness to sacrifice the interests of the country and its people.

“The PMO has proudly claimed that India has now become the most open economy in the world for FDI. The argument that this would ‘provide major impetus to employment and job creation’ of totally false,” she said.

“Experience in our country has shown the despite all the concessions and relaxations given to attract FDI and the hype that is generated, the amount of FDI that has come into the country is nominal. Most of the foreign money that has come into the country is to purchase equity in the existing companies and not to invest in any new production. It has not generated any new employment. Rather, the opening of new markets to the products of multinational companies to appease them has proved disastrous to domestic industry. Instead of job creation there has been a declaration in employment generation,” she said in the release.

The joint trade union movement has given a call for a country-wide general strike on September 2 proceeded by a massive satyagraha on august 9.

The decision of the government not only shows its total apathy to the unanimous demands of the trade union movement but also its eagerness to satisfy multinational corporations at the cost of our national interests, she said.