Dibrugarh, Jan. 31: The All Assam Students Union (AASU) will launch a statewide agitation against the government’s alleged move to privatise the Assam Asset of the ONGC, in protest against the lack of response from either the government or the oil major.
The students’ union convened a meeting of its central body in Guwahati on February 16.
Representatives of political parties, trade unions, intellectuals and various students’ unions will air their views on the issue, which had led to an agitation in Sivasagar district in December.
AASU general secretary Tapan Gogoi today told reporters in Sivasagar that there was no question of “going slow” against the company, which remained adamant on the privatisation.
“Our Sivasagar district committee launched a series of agitation to protest the move last year. As there was no proper response from the company and the government, we are left with no other option but to continue with our agitation and intensify it further,” Gogoi said.
A 96-hour ONGC blockade, which started from December 21 last year, was among the programmes launched by the AASU’s Sivasagar district committee.
The blockade witnessed violent scenes of protest and resulted in an estimated Rs 2-crore loss to the company per day.
“We are now going to take the agitation throughout the state and not restrict it to Sivasagar, where the major operations of the company are based. We will also urge all the political parties to take a clear-cut stand on the issue, as it relates to the future of the state,” Gogoi added.
He said AASU had received a letter from ONGC, which mentioned that the company had never planned the privatisation.
However, the letter mentioned that the Union petroleum ministry had mooted an idea of making the Assam Asset of ONGC a subsidiary.
“ONGC says no final decision has been taken on the issue of forming a subsidiary either. However, we are opposed to the formation of a subsidiary, which is believed to be the first step towards privatisation,” the AASU leader said.
The Telpathar Sangram Parishad convened a meeting in Sivasagar on Tuesday to chart out a progra- mme against the alleged move.
The Sivasagar-based organisation, which has been fighting against divestment and privatisation of oil fields in Assam for quite some time now, had earlier set a deadline of December 31 for the Centre and the company to respond on the issue.
However, after the Centre failed to respond positively to its demand, the organisation staged a three-hour sit-in in front of the Assam Asset headquarters at Nazira in Sivasagar district on January 19.
“It is really unfortunate that the Centre and the company have till date not responded positively to our demands. It seems that the Centre will go against the popular wishes of the people of the state, therefore, we too will continue with our agitation, the future course of which will be decided on Tuesday,” said Promode Gogoi, the president of the organisation.