Assam Student Leaders Shave Heads to Protest Privatization of Numaligarh Oil Refinery

Guwahati, October 14, 2019:

Members of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) have staged a protest in Numaligarh of Assam, after the proposed disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). BPCL holds 61.65 per cent share of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).

The AASU members have assembled near the refinery, where they can be seen raising slogans. Moreover, some of the AASU members could even be seen shaving their heads in protest against the proposed privatization of the NRL.

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Speaking to Inside Northeast, AASU General Secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, "The refinery is the result of martyrdom of 855 people. It has a lot of sacrifice and history attached to it. We will oppose the . We urge the Assam Government to invest in the NRL to maintain the PSU status of the refinery. The AASU calls upon the Government to save the NRL."

Apart from the AASU members, the Numaligarh Refinery Employees’ Union (NREU) has sought intervention from the MPs from Assam to retain the public sector undertaking (PSU) status of NRL after reports of proposed disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) have come out in the open.

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NREU have already submitted a memorandum to Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, and are going to submit the memorandum to all the other MPs of the state and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to retain the PSU status of the NRL.

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