New Delhi: CPI leader D Raja has written to prime minister Narendra Mosi saying the government should hold a debate on the proposed disinvestment of Air India as it will have long-term consequences for the country.

In the letter addressed to PM Modi, the CPI lawmaker warned the government that hasty economic policies have often boomeranged.

"The government should remember the consequences of other ill-thought out and hasty economic policies, which had boomeranged. I strongly advise the government to have a complete debate and let public opinion be formed on this issue. Hasty sell-off of Air India will have long term negative consequences for the country," Mr Raja wrote in the letter.

Air India is not an organisation suffering from a lock-out or in a state of inaction, he added.

"As a matter of fact, Air India has expanded its international routes and Indians overseas have greatly appreciated the expansion," he wrote in the letter.

The government took the decision "without weighing the social costs of selling off Air India" which would be a major setback to India's image, he claimed.

There is a need to "avoid haste, and ponder over the negative impacts of selling off Air India on the civil aviation sector", D Raja added.

Remember Consequences Of Hasty Policies, D Raja Warns PM Modi On Air India

The government took the decision "without weighing the social costs of selling off Air India" which would be a major setback to India's image, Mr Raja claimed.