Trying to woo industrialists in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday promised to create an “enabling” environment for the growth of industries. It also offered to set up two mega national skill-development centres and start-up industrial hubs near Bangalore and Delhi if voted to power.
Interacting with some 300 industrialists at a programme organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence here to elicit their views before finalising the party’s election manifesto, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad assured them of reducing the number of clearances that they have to get from various government and civic agencies for setting up their enterprises.
Observing that good political system was a necessity for ensuring good economy, he said the BJP, if voted to power, would provide a good political system which can deliver good governance in every sphere.
Concern
Expressing concern over the economic crisis gripping the country and the falling growth rate, he said the BJP had the experience and reputation of taking the country forward in difficult times. “The country had a low growth rate of 4.8 per cent when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was formed at the Centre in 1998. We witnessed a series of debilitating factors such as economic sanctions imposed by the international community on India following the nuclear tests, the Kargil war, East Asian economic crisis, Gujarat earthquake and cyclone in some States. But despite this we ensured that the country was in a sound economic condition as it recorded a growth rate of 8.5 per cent when we demitted the office in May 2004,” Mr. Prasad said.
He accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of failing the country in crucial sectors such as communication, power, roads and infrastructure, steel, and real estate mainly due to mismanagement and scams.
Maintaining that a big democratic country like India needed a popular and able leader for the prime ministerial post, he claimed that the BJP’s candidate for the post, Narendra Modi, was an ideal person for the job.
BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi proposed to strengthen the industrial sector on the lines of various measures initiated in Gujarat.
The country lacked skill development, she said, and added that the BJP, if voted to power, would set up two national skill development centres and start-up industrial hubs near Bangalore and Delhi to train lakhs of youth and assist the start-ups.
