sanyasi: UPA goverment survives motion on FDI

Wednesday 5 December 2012

UPA goverment survives motion on FDI

Dear all

The UPA government has won the motion against FDI and a big boost to Dr Manmohan Singh, and his new wave of economic reforms. The motion put forward by the strange combination of BJP and Left parties was defeated in the floor of the house by 35 votes . Thanks to the 43 member BSP - SP combine abstaining from the voting

It is natural that any economic reforms bring with it an array of apprehension on its fallouts. It is this apprehension of the public that creates the muddled waters for the political party to fish in and exaggerate the fear.

Multi-brand retail entry into the 450 Billion dollar Retail segment in India is perceived to be a threat to the small scale kirana stores and farmers. Notwithstanding the fact that the policy on FDI in multi brand retail has inbuilt clauses which safe guards this perceived threat and is left to the state governments for implementation, the BJP has been the unprincipled opponent to this move.

Well this note is not into putting up an argument on the subject but to bring to the attention of the readers to the fact that, policy making and politicking in India revolves around the interest factors of the affected elite. India as represented by its political parties are governed by the oligarchy aptly caricatured as the three prowling fat cats- Business houses, Rich farmers and the middle man traders-Among this class of the Indian bourgeoisie , the middle men traders are the BJPs coffers who shall be the sufferers in case of multi brand retail entry into India. With the retail chains resorting to direct purchase, transportation and storage and by usage of technologically driven logistic management tools, added to the benefits of economics of scale, the per unit cost is bound to minimize . This may result in the end of speculation as a tool for price management, there by hitting the trader in his underbelly.

As BJP has a major trader representation, this section is the hidden critic of the policy prompting them to move a motion against the bill which has now been defeated.

It is important for us to read this message between the line and conclude that good economics is always not good politics:

Sanyasi:

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crying babies have milk

Dear all, The prime minister''s independence day speech was disappointing to most of the ex service men . According to them the PM did not deliver what he had promised to them during the elections. Yes, I mean the one rank one pension scheme (OROP) . The TV channels showed flocks of ex service men predominantly people from Punjab, Himachal and Haryana cursing the PM as a traitor. We all know that it is easy to make election promises but when it comes to implementation , reality strikes. The same is the case with OROP . This is a great idea in principle , but the cost to exchequer is said to be nearly Rs 10000 Crore . Who will bill this ? Lets now go to Bihar. Our PM has now gone and pledged around Rs 1.3 Lakh Crore for Bihar's development. Well, I do not know whether the learned people from Bihar will bite the bait or whether they too will have to go for a Dharna later. Time and the election results will speak. The larger point here is about the culture of freebies and rent seeking by interest groups. This has been part of India's body- politic since long and have made large Vote banks . Is nt this at the cost of others ? . Guys I am not being parochial. You go to a railway station , airport and any Central Government office , don''t you get a larger taste of Hindi, Bihar and the stench from the cow belt. I am afraid I don't see any diversity here. ( except the occasional face of some dark coloured Southees or marathees in the CISF security team at Mumbai airport). I don't have numbers to throw and prove statistics but the point is that there seems to be a collective bargaining and a reciprocal political blessing based on election needs, be it from UPA or NDA. ( In fact both seems to be two parts of the same coin). If Bihar can claim Rs 1.3 Lakh crore (if at all it happens ) why not Orissa , Bengal and Telengana. Are'nt they also underdeveloped. The resource pledging seems to skew unequally over the geography of India particularly away from the South and East; Well that is for you to think , but what worries me is on the tax that I pay. I don''t mind that the tax taken from me is given to the right people or if the government comes up with some schemes which percolates my income down the pyramid, but what annoys me is that I don't want my tax to be pledged for votes . Anyway as somebody said crying babies always have milk. That is what democracy is for. Jai Hind: