Friday, January 13 2006 20:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: The veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist (M) Poltiburo member Jyoti Basu today (Jan 13, 2006) pleaded helplessness at the way the Congress-led UPA Government at the Center was pushing through its decisions on the EPF interest rate and airport modernization.

"We (Left parties) are protesting against these decisions but they are not heeding to our objections. What else can we do?" Basu told reporters.

The Left parties have sought scrapping of the ongoing bid for modernization of Delhi and Mumbai airports which they said was privatization and asked the Government to hand over the work to the Airports Authority of India.

They have also demanded restoration of the EPF interest rate at 9.5 percent for the year 2005-06 and opposed the Government notification of 8.5 per cent interest rate for the current fiscal.