THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on June 21, has strongly denounced the sweeping changes made by the Modi led BJP government to ease FDI in nine key sectors including defence, aviation, pharmaceutical and food processing. CITU said that the decision to ease norms to increase FDI in strategic and sensitive sectors like defence, aviation etc shows the subservience of the government to the interests of the big multinational corporations and international finance capital and its willingness to sacrifice the interests of our own country and its people. The PMO has proudly proclaimed 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’ is totally spurious and false. Experience in our country has shown that despite all the concessions and relaxations given to attract FDI and the hype that is generated, the amount of FDI that has come to the country is nominal. Most of the foreign money that has come into the country is only for purchasing equity in the existing companies; not to invest in any new production. It has not generated any new employment. Rather, the opening of our markets to the products of multinational companies to appease them has proved disastrous to our domestic industry resulting in the closure of many of our own industries, particularly in the small and medium scale sector, which provide the largest employment, as these industries are not in a position to compete with the big multinational corporations. Thus instead of any job creation what has resulted is loss of employment and deceleration in employment generation, the statement issued by CITU noted. It is to be noted that the entire trade union movement has been demanding withdrawal of the government decision to increase FDI in insurance, defence and allowing FDI in railways and included it as part of its 12 point charter of demands. The joint trade union movement has given the call for a countrywide general strike on September 2, 2016 preceded by massive Satyagraha on August 9 to press for these demands. 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 the multinational corporates at the cost of our national interests, said the CITU and demanded withdrawal of the decision to ease the FDI norms.