HVK Archives: Gowda cautions against politics of manipulation
Gowda cautions against politics of manipulation - The Hindustan Times
HT Correspondent
()
23 April 1997
Title : Gowda cautions against politics of manipulation
Author : HT Correspondent
Publication : The Hindustan Times
Date : April 23, 1997
Former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda stoutly defended the track
record of his 10-month Government, while. cautioning against
politics of manipulation.
Addressing annual meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) here today, he said the younger generation is well aware of
the manipulations being unfolded by individuals who have spent
several decades in public life. He was confident that the younger
generation will save the country from the politics of manoeuvres
and help the country to surge ahead in the next one decade.
Ale former Prime Minister said he had agreed to shoulder the
responsibility of heading the Government at a critical juncture.
Domestic industry and foreign investors were watching the situation
as stability of the Government and the continuity of the reforms
process was being seriously questioned.
Stating that he did not wish to look for scapegoats for the fall of
his Government, he asserted that in spite of heading a 13-party
coalition Government with diverse ideological and electoral agenda
several initiatives to remove procedural and legal hurdles to
economic growth were undertaken. He was confident that these steps
would be followed by the new Government as well.
Mr Gowda referred to the decentralisation of decision making
initiated by the Government by transferring Foreign Investment
Promotion Board (FIPB) to the Industry Ministry. He said the steps
taken by his Government after December 31 meeting with captains of
industry showed it was a Government of action.
The former Prime Minister said realising that the power generation
capacity had to be increased for rapid industrial growth, power
projects were approved at a rapid speed. To facilitate quicker
decision making States were empowered to clear power projects. As a
result all mega power projects, barring three, were given a go
ahead. He assured the participants that these projects would also
obtain consent from the new Government.
He stated that these steps along with a good budget the Government
was able to remove the suspicion of instability that had been
tagged with the Government. He observed that the smooth change in
Government had shown that instability of past 20 days was a
momentary issue and the nation could look forward to a 7 per cent
growth in the ninth Plan.
Mr Gowda said the decline in political values started in 1969.
Today, no political. party, postures apart, is in a situation to
govern the nation as people are losing faith in the Political
leaders, he asserted, adding that power has become the main motto
of politicians.
Castigating the politicians for the current state of affairs, the
former Prime Minister said the country in spite of cultural values
and ethos is today shaken. He said persons in public life should
realise that political parties and leaders were not of paramount.
Mr Gowda said in spite of all these problems he was-optimistic
about the future of the country. "India's strength lies in its
democratic structure where there is smooth transition of power."
Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker P. A. Sangma suggested an all-party
national conference for evolving a consensus on important national
issues. He said the need of the hour was to stabilise the system
and to make every person accountable. Citing the example of Japan,
the Speaker said average life of the Government is about six
months, but the Japanese economy is moving forward without any
problem as the system is stable.
He said growth of the Indian economy requires reviving sick
industrial units, extending Green Revolution, removing
infrastructural bottlenecks and making the service sector more
efficient. He said in the short and medium term the boost for
growth has to necessarily come from the manufacturing sector.
The Lok Sabha Speaker said to improve industrial productivity the
public sector enterprises (PSEs) had to be revived. "Despite long
down out efforts at rehabilitation of the sick PSEs, viable
solutions have evaded us," he added.
No manager cap run an enterprise where mere is scope for
discretionary decisions being questioned as arbitrary, he stated,
pointing out that this had been one of the basic problems faced by
PSE managements. The devil is in the detail of share holding. If
there is dominant Government share holding in an enterprise,
Article 12 defining "State" would be attracted with attendant
judicial review of even commercial decisions. He suggested that
the Judiciary should be requested to set out guidelines to moderate
the complexities arising from the Article, Mr Sangma added.
However, problem of sickness is not confined-to PSEs only at peak
levels, the BIFR was handling the cases of about 1,500 sick
industrial units largely in the private sector. The problem lies
in the lack of fast track procedures for conclusive settlement of
these areas.
Manufacturing is significantly dependent on steady power supply,
which is in short supply in the country. The perennial problems in
this sector include low plant which account for 75 per cent of the
power generation capacity, heavy transmission and distribution
losses, the Speaker added.
He hoped that the situation would be significantly improved now as
the private sector and foreign investments have been allowed in the
sector. Besides power, the country faces other infrastructural
bottlenecks, including that of surface transport. These can also be
expected to be resolved soon with the Government laying down
guidelines for private sector participation, Mr Sangma observed.
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