The CPI(M) on Wednesday urged the Tamil Nadu government to drop its move to privatise underground sewerage projects in Madurai and Nagercoil. The party said handing over essential infrastructure to private players is an "anti-people" initiative. They warned that such privatisation would burden households with high taxes and fees.
The party criticised the current administration for aggressively pushing the same privatisation agenda by handing over an entire underground sewerage network to private players
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu unit of CPI(M) on Wednesday condemned the state government's move to privatise underground sewerage projects in Madurai and Nagercoil corporations, urging immediate cancellation of the tenders floated under the Public-Private Partnership model. CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam called the government's action shocking, stating that handing over essential public infrastructure to corporate entities for profit was an "anti-people" initiative.
Highlighting past precedents, the party in a release alleged that water supply distribution in Coimbatore was privatised during the AIADMK regime, while a similar attempt for Salem's water scheme under the previous DMK rule faced severe public backlash.
The party criticised the current administration for aggressively pushing the same privatisation agenda by handing over an entire underground sewerage network to private players.
Warning against the fallout of privatising an essential public sanitation service, CPI(M) outlined three major risks -- poor and middle-class households will be burdened with steep sewerage taxes and fees under the guise of maintenance costs, citizens will be deprived of their right to seek grievances directly from local civic bodies, forcing them to depend on corporate entities and the job security of sanitation workers and temporary local body employees will be compromised, leaving them vulnerable to severe exploitation.
The CPI(M) demanded that the Tamil Nadu government allocate full state funds to execute the projects through the public sector under direct civic control, noting that the schemes are estimated at Rs 2,377.48 crore for Madurai and Rs 189.82 crore for Nagercoil.
Recalling that a previous tender to privatise sanitation work across 12 municipal corporations was withdrawn following fierce public resistance, the CPI(M) asserted that repeatedly handing over basic civic services to private players is an abdication of state responsibility.
A welfare government must not retreat from delivering essential public services, the party stated while demanding the immediate revocation of the tender process.