Help India win

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday reached out to the Opposition, seeking cooperation to carry forward the reforms process and help usher in faster growth against the backdrop of a gloomy global economic outlook. He also rejected views that a policy paralysis had set in the government and reeled out the legislations pending before Parliament and the decision taken by the UPA coalition to strengthen reforms process. Delay in clearances, slowdown in economy and lack of major policy initiatives in the aftermath of the string of scandals that emerged since last year had worried investors. Several eminent citizens had written to the government expressing concern about the policy paralysis that had set in. “If you cooperate it is to help India. Therefore disruption of Parliament is not an answer. Parliament must function,” Mukherjee said, while seeking approval of Opposition parties for passage of key legislations such as raising the FDI cap on insurance, appointment of a pension fund regulator and the land acquisition bill. “I am aware that journalists will want to win accolades for what they write, sportsmen will want to win prizes and in a democratic system, politicians will try to win elections. But at the same time we must all remember that we all win if India wins. That will happen if the reform process gains momentum and economy surges ahead,” Mukherjee said, while addressing the economic editors. The finance minister listed decisions taken by the government, which include the new draft telecom policy, new rules for infrastructure debt funds, a new manufacturing policy being examined by a panel of ministers and introduction of the land acquisition bill in Parliament. He said the government had taken several measures to develop the banking sector. “GST and DTC can make a crucial difference to economic development,” Mukherjee said, referring to the two key pending reform initiatives — the Direct Tax Code and the Goods and Services Tax. He said the government was closely monitoring the developments on these two fronts. Mukherjee highlighted the lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha, which was acting as an obstacle to the passage of several key reform legislations. Referring to the move of some Indian industrialists to invest abroad, Mukherjee called for putting in place measures to reverse the trend.