The CPI(M) today asked the Manmohan Singh government whether it had a “dual policy” on FDI in the retail sector.
“In Parliament the Centre said it would not move forward in FDI till a consensus evolved through discussions. In Davos, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told a Walmart representative that it had only pressed the pause button. Has the Centre a double policy on FDI in retail?” CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat asked at a press conference in Ranchi.
“Has the Centre got a double policy on FDI - one in Parliament and another with Walmart,” she asked and warned the Centre going against its statement to Parliament.
Mr. Sharma had on Friday “assured” global Walmart and Metro that the reforms agenda was well on course and the decision to put on hold FDI in multi-brand retail was “just a pause”, forced by “compulsions of coalition politics”.
Accusing the Congress and the BJP of following wrong policies and trying to give land to big companies, she said, “The left will launch agitation against grabbing of land by any government, particularly in Jharkhand, to hand over to big companies.” She also demanded that Jharkhand should empower members of the three-tier panchayat system in the State “instead of keeping powers with officials and legislators at the grassroots.”
