The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has rejected the government's plan to put on hold the Union Cabinet decision to allow 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail. It said nothing short of a rollback was acceptable.
“The government has now informed us about keeping the decision in abeyance. It is an obvious ploy to keep it [in abeyance] till the end of the winter session [of Parliament]…we want complete cancellation of this policy…” general secretary Prakash Karat said, releasing a party publication, ‘Oppose FDI in Retail, Defend Indian Livelihoods,' here on Tuesday.
Mr. Karat said it would be a mistake to judge the issue as one limited to the current session of Parliament; the very fact that all major parties opposed to the United Progressive Alliance, and some within the ruling coalition, had joined hands showed that the struggle was not yet over.
Disagreeing with the government's claim about the prerogative of the Executive to take a policy decision, he said any decision could be brought to Parliament for scrutiny, and the Opposition had the right to bring an adjournment motion and have it voted upon.
“This is being considered anti-democratic, anti-parliamentary…”
Asked about his party's stand in Parliament on Wednesday, when both Houses will reconvene after a short break, Mr. Karat said a final decision would be taken after hearing out the government (at the all-party meeting scheduled for the same day).
Instead of creating 10 million jobs over three years, as claimed by the government, the foreign direct investment would wipe out those working in the unorganised sector.
“In the backdrop of huge unemployment and under-employment persisting in India, small-scale retailing still provides livelihood security to around 20 million urban workers and 12 million rural workers. Their displacement would further worsen the unemployment scenario,” the booklet said, arguing for the need to regulate organised retail trade.
The average size of a Wal-Mart store in the United States is about 10800 square feet, employing 225 people, he said, and the government's claim of protection for small traders was specious since a majority of them operated in the 53 cities with a population of 10 lakh and above, which qualified for the FDI in retail.
He said the investment limit of $100 million (Rs. 500 cr.) set by the government was “peanuts” and “small change” for multi-national retail majors like Wal-Mart, whose turnover stood at $400 billion.
Keywords: FDI, retail, foreign investment, BJP, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat
Indian Workers Association GB(IWA)welcomes the decision Of FDI in abeyance till all stakeholders are taken into confidence. IWA hails the struggle of the people and political parties who resisted this attack of multinational companies on the livelyhood of millions of people in India. We have witnessed the destruction of small shops and stores destroyed by these big companies in UK. We join our compatriots in India and abroad to demand a total roll back of this FDI criminal act to save millions of jobs in small scale retail sector.
I do not understand what kind of political principle Mr. karat follows: is this for improvement of India or putting India further down. After being ousted from West Bengal and Kerala, still they did not change their mind of destructive politics and still gives people wrong messages. FDI in Indian retail market is beneficial for India, without any doubt. As this will create a whole new level of supply chain, which will definitely attract a huge amount of Job opportunities and in this process the poor people will be befitted most. Even the food wastage due to lack of proper supply chain and other facilities can be averted maximally. We all should support Govt to get this FDI-approval done.
@ Madan, very good thought but I am sure you have seen the degeneration in western economies (EVER ASKED WHY THEY ARE FACING SUCH MONUMENTAL ECOMOMIC CRISIS?) , I take pride in the savings and living within means mentality of Indians! I am great admirer of capitalism but NOT THE western kind of "use it till the debts are mountain high mentality"!!! When government came with this idea of FDI in retail- one thought that many people like me had was-we should never be like what western societies have become now!! I cannot imagine fellow Indians becoming debt creditcard holders, burning fuel of the earth with large SUVs,burning away the resources in the name of equality!! India is not ready for this and if it is done, it must be done the Indian way NOT the IMF way or the US way. Yes democracy is now working! Who is the India Inc? the ones that carry money not the ones that carry Indian ways and aspirations. If India is another USA- thats a great shame to the values and what we believe in!!
Communism is dead even China and Russia buried it till Indian communist living in Lenin era. They don't understand mind of youngsters of India that is why they defeated in election.India is country of youngsters they want complete change in their life.Unfortunately older generation who are ruling on them they afraid too much to changes so they are opposing to FDI.I don't think in long run they can stop the inspiration of youngster
The Indians are not realising the power they have. When Bharathi is teaming up with Walmart, why dont The Indians throw away the sim cards of Airtel to show the anger to Bharthi Management, owners of Airtel??? People need to realise this.
Being a country that is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, we are bound to equip ourselves and prevent the abnormal wastage of 35-40 percent of our produce due to lack of cold storage facilities, infrastructure and logistics support. It is a criminal loss that around 10 percent of our staple produce is being wasted because of poor storage and warehouse facilities. The FDI proposal that incorporate conditions to invest up to 50 percent for the installation of cold storage facilities must give immense employment opportunities for marginalized communities in remote places where vegetable and fruits are cultivated. At the same time, we must know that India is not like the neighboring Indonesia in S.E Asia or U.S.A or China. We are unique and have exclusive entity due to geographical and cultural reasons. Let me quote the words of Dalai Lama….. “Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.”
Government must welcome suggestions and control measures to be followed while envisaging to bring big investment into the sector mainly for making our farmers as beneficiaries and simultaneously uplifting the rural poor who always get unfair prices on produces while seeing the middlemen taking away a major share of the fruits of their efforts. Let the deliberations between the government and opposition as well as the representatives of farmers, retailers including the new generation retailers having big super markets, hypermarkets in number of cities iron out all divergent issues and lead to arrive at a consensus prior to the launch of the fresh proposal for FDI into Retail sector.
It is surprising,how these politicians could still be living in the
old Russian era.Even china, Russia and Vietnam have opened up to the
world markets.India needs to open up the retail sector.It will bring
millions of new jobs to the country.India needs proper storage
facilities and supply chains.Every year almost40% of the fruits and
vegetables get wasted even before they reach the consumers.Opening up
the market will also pour in billions of dollar investments into the
country.It will only bring more prosperity and bring down the
inflation in the country.Let us stand up to these stupid politicians
and support our prime minister.It is about time,he show some guts and
bring these overdue reforms.Better late than never.
FDI in retail is the need of the hour when investment in India is declining, rupee is depreciating, inflation is sky high & GDP is slowing. FDI in retail will benefit India in many ways: 1)introduce modern logistics such as efficient supply chain & cold storage that will cut down the estimated 40% wastage in farm produce helping to tame inflation & putting more money in farmers' pocket, 2)reduce middlemen who pocket most of the profit today thereby letting farmers get better price & reduce price for the consumers, 3)create jobs in retail without requiring high education level such as in IT, 4)help make medium-small business suppliers more efficient since foreign retailers work with their vendors to help them improve quality, 5)better quality products since organized foreign retailers have to observe quality control for fear of bad publicity, 6)huge tax revenue for the govt as organized retail will collect tax that the non-branded retailer evade today by not providing sales receipts.
Whole discussion remains a mischief by congress who pushed FDI without
public discussion.Consultation with Public is necessary as done by
Anna Team in Jan Lok Pal.Without increasing the pocket power or
purchasing power of aaam admi this discussion on retail network
replacement is Non sense.How can the lost weeks in Lok Sabha Jam be
covered ? Will the Parliament session driven by elected represented
shall care to extend and work overtime and even on weekends need to be
seen.For details read my article in Goggle:No Work No Pay needs to be
applied from PM to Peon.Left role is commendable in protecting rights
of farmers and small traders with honesty and with No Double
standards.
A pure ideological stand by the CPI(M)! Why not do a SWOT analysis of it
and try to suggest measures to overcome the weaknesses in it. Who is
stopping you from participating in such a positive democratic process.
Our politicians won't do that. They just need a chance to block the
govt, or they need some ideology that hinders progress. We do not
deserve such an opposition in the country.
I am sure that Mr. Karat knows that Wal-Mart is operating in communist China. Can Mr. Karat not learn from the pragmatism displayed by China?
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