The leaders of CPSTU, in a joint letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday said it was sad that the new government was ignoring the fact that cost of closure was much more than the cost of revival. Also, efforts were on to hand over profit-making psus to foreign and Indian private companies, CPSTU said.

``The grim prospects of closure and privatisation of PSUs, all of which tread the vital sectors of the national economy like power, coal, steel, defence production, chemicals, have also been affecting the operation and survival of many other industrial and ancillary units down the line and also the large section of population attached to those units,'' CPSTU said.

Apart from demanding that the disinvestment of PSU shares be stopped, the leaders also protested the non-revision of wages in PSUs, saying that instead of creating hurdles, the government should immediately facilitate a satisfactory and honourable wage settlement in PSUs.