BJP questions Manmohan Singh's rationale for pushing reforms now

The common perception is that in his address to the nation on September 21, 2012, the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Sing, struggled to convince the people of India on the benefits of FDI in multi-brand retail.  But the arguments put forth by him in favour of FDI proved as fallacious and unconvincing, besides being travesty of truth. Consequently, the opposition has hit out at the Prime Minister over his address to the nation saying that he was “misleading” the country on FDI in multi-brand retail and appeared to be advocating interests of other countries while trying to “defend the indefensible”.  In conclusion, allowing 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail is an unwise and an anti-people decision; it requires to be definitely annulled. Nevertheless during his period as Prime Minister, Dr.Singh is reported to have failed to curb various scams, sandals and frauds perpetuated by crony capitalists and greedy bureaucrats. As a result, resources of the country have been looted by crony capitalists with the active support of corrupt politicians and connivance of bureaucrats. The country is reported to have lost lakhs of corers of rupees, which could have been used to promote investment and provide welfare measures to the down-trodden people. The criticism is that Dr.Singh has been keeping silence over the organised looting. But many believe that he was not a silent spectator, but an active participant in the scams, particularly in the “coal-gate scam” which has caused a loss of about Rs. 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer and involved thousands of crores as bribe to politicians and bureaucrats. Reports show that the Prime Minister’s Office has definite role in the scam. By notifying the decision to allow 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail trade much against the sentiments and wishes of almost all political parties, the entire trading community, and, of course, the vast majority of the people of the country, Dr.Singh has skillfully diverted the attention of the people from the ill-famous coal gate scandal, which involved a loss of about Rs.1.86 lakh crores to the exchequer, besides thousands of crores as bribe.

Dr.C.Murukadas, Economic Times, September 22, 2012

BJP questions Manmohan Singh's rationale for pushing reforms now

FDI in retail really a reason to worry

Mr. Shourie is one of the ardent supporters of neo-liberalism. It was only during his Ministership in NDA, many public sector units were handed over to capitalists for a pittance thereby causing huge loss to the  country and causing large-scale unemployment. Although he is quite aware that FDI in retail will not bring any benefit to the people and  enable the multinational retail giants to loot Indian people, he is telling that FDI in retail not a reason to worry. It seems that he has been bought by the lobbyists of multinational retail giants. It is also quite intriguing to note that he has supported the Centre’s decision to increase diesel prices by five rupees. It seems he is mocking at the sentiments of the people. By doing so he has turned a blind eye  to  the opposition to FDI  for he is quite aware that   all the opposition parties  and some of the allays of the UPA II  declared an all India bandh on September 20, 2012 against 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail trade, besides against hike in diesel price and cap on  LPG cylinders at 6 per annum. The bandh evoked unprecedentedly huge response all over the country and in many states normal life was paralised.  The traders also called for an all India bandh on September 20, 2012, which receieved overwhelming support of all categories of retail traders and almost all shops from Kanyakumari to Kashmir remained closed on 20 September 2012 due to the traders’ bandh. The traders have gone to the extent of stating that they are even prepared to sacrifice their life for the cause of preventing 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail trade.

Dr.C.Murukadas, The Hindu, Sep 22, 2012.

Akhilesh Yadav blames PM for economic crisis

It is an open secret that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is mainly responsible for the economic crisis of India. He pretends to be straightforward and innocent, whereas actually he is not so. Dr. Singh himself is saying that India's economic situation has gone from bad to worse and the level of living of a large proportion of the county’s population has deteriorated over the years. In 1991, India's then Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, chose Dr. Man Mohan Singh as his Finance Minister. As India's Finance Minister at that time, Dr.Singh was the main architect of the neo-liberal economic policy which revolved around liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. In 1993, Dr. Singh offered to resignation the post of Finance Minister after a Parliamentary Investigation Report criticised his Ministry for not being able to foresee the multimillion securities scandal, which was not accepted by Mr. Narasimha Rao. Critics say that as the Finance Minister during 1991-1996, Dr.Singh did not shine except in faithfully implementing the IMF-dictated policy, i.e. Structural Adjustment Porgramme (SAP). In the 1994 general election the Congress Party emerged as the single largest Party and the new government was formed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with the left parties supporting from outside. To the dismay of many senior congressmen, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President, chose Dr. Manmohan Singh to lead the Government. In 2009, Dr. Singh was again chosen by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi to head the UPA II government. But during his period as Prime Minister, Dr.Singh is reported to have failed to curb various scams, sandals and frauds perpetuated by crony capitalists and greedy bureaucrats. As a result, resources of the country have been looted by crony capitalists with the active support of corrupt politicians and connivance of bureaucrats. The country is reported to have lost lakhs of corers of rupees, which could have been used to promote investment and provide welfare measures to the down-trodden people. The criticism is that Dr.Singh has been keeping silence over the organised looting. But many believe that he was not a silent spectator, but an active participant in the scams, particularly in the “coal-gate scams€ which has caused a loss of about Rs. 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer and involved thousands of crores as bribe to politicians and bureaucrats. Reports show that the Prime Minister's Office has definite role in the scam. By notifying the decision to allow 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail trade much against the sentiments and wishes of almost all political parties, the entire trading community, and, of course, the vast majority of the people of the country, Dr.Singh has skillfully diverted the attention of the people from the ill-famous coal gate scandal, which involved a loss of about Rs.1.86 lakh crores to the exchequer, besides thousands of crores as bribe. Therefore, better late than never, it is good that the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has openly stated that Dr. Manmohan Singh is responsible for the economic crisis of India. But it is unfair for him to say that SP has given support to the UPA government to keep communal forces out. He must realise that the people of India will never forgive him and the Samajwadi party for providing for UPAII to remain afloat and lead the country towards decay.

 Dr. C.Murukadas,The Times of India, Sep 22, 2012.

Mamata's exit from UPA II

Traders body to support Sept. 20 stir against FDI in retail

There is no doubt that 51 per cent FDI multi-brand retail will affect all sections, particularly the small retail traders. They have no other go but to fight out against the government's decision. The traders have stated that they are even prepared to sacrifice their life for the cause of forcing the government to
to roll-back its decision to implement FDI in multi-brand retail.The gravest impact of FDI in retail trade will be on the family run tiny retail shops. Tens of thousands of tiny retail outlets have gone out of business in the West as they were not able to compete with companies like Wall-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour. The retail market is not infinite; therefore the growth of corporate retail will mean the loss of local shops and employment. The employment potential in the retail sector will go down very much as the proportionate employment in relation to total sales is much less in the retail chain stores organisations.

  Dr.C.Murukadas, The Hindu,  Sep 18, 2012

FDI in retail would hit Indian traders, says BJP

BJP's apprehension that the decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail sector would wipe out Indian traders is absolutely true.The gravest impact of FDI in retail trade will be on the family run tiny retail shops. Tens of thousands of tiny retail outlets have gone out of business in the West as they were not able to compete with companies like Wall-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour. The retail market is not infinite; therefore the growth of corporate retail will mean the loss of local shops and employment. The employment potential in the retail sector will go down very much as the proportionate employment in relation to total sales is much less in the retail chain stores organisations. The establishment of local corporate retail outlets has already caused the extinction of many unorganised retail outlets. A study by RFSTE/ Navdanya has shown that nearly 90 percent small retailers have been negatively impacted within a few months of a Reliance Fresh store coming up in the Delhi and NCR neighborhood; 87 percent said they will have to close their shops because of declining business; and 66 percent small vendors said that they would be affected. Thus, corporate retail has is clearly growing at the cost of small retail jeopardising the employment and livelihood of millions of persons all over the country. Dr.C. Murukadas, The  Economic Times ,20 Sep, 2012

Reverse decisions or quit, CPI-M tells Congress

CPI-M leader Prakash Karat is quite correct in demanding Dr. Manmohan Singh to quit.The
UPA government has no moral authority to stick on to power. If it wants to continue in power, a
situation like 1991 may recur, which is not good for the functioning of parliamentary democracy
 in India. Mr. Mulayam Singh (Samajwadi Party) and Mrs. Mayawati (Bahujan Samajwadi Party )
may be pressurised to support the government because corruption cases are pending against them; Samajwadi Party  has 19 MPs and Bahujan Samajwadi Party has 21 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
Nevertheless, all the coalition partners of UPA II as well as those parties supporting from outside
have expressed strong opposition to the rush of reform measures, especially Foreign Direct
 Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and decision on curtailing supply of subsidised domestic LPG
cylinders, announced by the Central government last week. The West Bengal the Chief Minister,
 being an honest and upright person, has had the guts to tell the Dr. Manmohan Singh’s
government that her party will pull out of the coalition unless the government withdrew the
anti-people “reform measures” announced unilaterally, especially 51 percent FDI in multi-brand
retail trade, under pressure from foreign multinational retail giants and the American and
 European Union governments. As stated by this commentator, again and again, the some leaders
 of the Indian government and a set of high level officials with the same mindset as that of their masters
have, for various reasons, fallen prey to the constant lobbying by the multinational retail giants.
 Dr. Singh and his companions in the government as well as the bureaucrats know very well that
FDI in multi-brand retail will do more harm than benefit to the people
.Dr.C.Murukadas, Hindustan Times, Sep.19,2012