don_corleone840 Posted September 19, 2012 Posted September 19, 2012 For eight long years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has listened to, and done the bidding of, the Congress party organisation, the socialists within his party, the obstructionist coalition members of the UPA, the Left Parties and the NGOs. But enough is enough. Just as he had followed his own instincts in the solitary instance of the Lok Sabha vote on Indo-US nuclear deal in July 2008 and, defying Left allies and his own leadership, scored a decisive victory, Singh has drawn the battle lines in the interest of the nation and his own legacy. His words to the Cabinet committee on economic affairs,"If we have to go down, let us go down fighting," are at last those of a leader and not a follower. The reforms announced by Singh include a 14% hike in diesel prices; permitting 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and 49% in local airlines and parts of the power sector; raising FDI cap in broadcasting from 49% to 74%; and a sizeable programme of disinvestment. Cynics might say that these reforms do not come even close to making up for the lost time during the last eight years, but that misses the point. At the current critical juncture in the nation's history, their symbolic and substantive value can scarcely be overestimated. Increasingly, it had begun to appear that the paralysis in the government, which has brought the growth rate tumbling down to below 5.5% in the first half of 2012, went all the way up to Singh and will likely hold back the nation's progress until at least a new government was elected in 2014. With less than two years left in his term and little prospect of a return to office, it seemed Singh had no incentive to take decisions that might bring yet more accusations of corruption. The same argument applied with potency to those down below, especially senior bureaucrats who were overwhelmingly in the last phase of their careers. The reform package that Singh has chosen to boldly announce and own rather than quietly release while looking the other way sends the powerful signal that the paralysis at the top is over and those down below better shape up as well. Substantively, all serious analysts, who are not into playing politics, agree that the elimination of the subsidy on diesel and disinvestment on a sizeable scale are essential to safeguarding the interests of the poor. Without that, we will be forced to choose between cutting the social programme benefiting the poor or continuing with the high fiscal deficits that would contribute to inflation, which would then asymmetrically erode the purchasing power of the poor. The opening up of multi-brand retail to FDI too had been overdue. Critics argue that foreign retailers such as Wal-Mart will decimate our small shopkeepers. But they had made this same argument for decades against liberalisation of imports and foreign investment arguing that they will destroy our industry. The result has been exactly the opposite, however, with our industry turning far more competitive and vibrant today - just look at the revolution in automobiles and two-wheelers - and the consumer has access to multiple varieties of high-quality products that my generation only dreamt about.
1983-2011 Posted September 19, 2012 Posted September 19, 2012 he looks unhealthy man, need to take a break from all them hunger strikes
mastana Posted September 19, 2012 Posted September 19, 2012 LMAO i didnt even look at your post before posting his picture. :hysterical:
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