The Hindu Business Line : Now, young MPs ponder over the CMP

Young Parliamentarians (from left) Mr Omar Abdullah, Mr Milind Deora and Mr Manvendra Singh, at an interactive session on "Is Common Minimum Programme good for India Vision 2020", organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Capital on Wednesday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Aug. 3

YOUNG Parliamentarians on Wednesday got together to do some serious thinking on the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and brainstormed on issues ranging from reforms to growth to infrastructure and even the "employability of politicians."

Mr Manvendra Singh, MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), set the ball rolling by terming CMP as an "accidental birth" and "creation of a political accident."

"It would not be fair on the country's part to expect that the CMP would deliver, since it's a post-poll document and has complications of parentage and delivery," said Mr Singh. It assumes that the solution to all problems of India lies in Delhi, he added, while speaking at a conference on whether the CMP is good enough for India Vision 2020 organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI).

Mr Milind Deora, a Congress MP, said that CMP is trying to create a social security net so that the economic reforms process can be taken up smoothly. "India spends about Rs 40,000 crore per annum on poverty alleviation and there are still about 290 million people below the poverty line. Naturally, the problem is in the delivery mechanism," he said and called for greater focus on urban centres.

He opined that while politicians are usually blamed, the lack of administrative accountability happens to be a basic problem. "Politicians are accountable to the public, whereas this is not so for the administrators," he said. On this, Mr Manvendra Singh quipped, "Far too few politicians are employable any way."

Mr Nilotpal Basu, the CPI(M) MP (actually a veteran Parliamentarian) said, "We are the most misunderstood party" and added that the approach to reforms should be revisited. Refusing to accept that the CMP is a compromise document, Mr Basu said that CMP was decided based on the mandate of the last election. On why the Left has a different approach towards reforms in the Centre and at West Bengal, he said, "Left is "right" in West Bengal, since "a sustainable base has been created in the State over the previous years."

According to Mr B. J. Panda, MP from Biju Janata Dal, CMP somehow gives the impression that "being inclusive is not harmonious with high growth." Moreover, "there are lofty announcements and numbers just don't add up," he said. While admitting that "most of the political parties do make some lofty announcements," Mr Panda felt that "there is a proliferation of such targets in the CMP" and if one were to do a reality check over a period of time, "we are up for a big fall."

He added that the focus on infrastructure would bring about inclusive growth. He also called for making better use of subsidies.

"Thousands of crores (of rupees) are spent on subsidising kerosene. We all know almost 50 per cent of kerosene goes to adulterate diesel... Isn't direct food stamps a better method to subsidise the poor?" asked Mr Panda.

Mr Sachin Pilot, Congress MP, also stressed that benefits should reach the villages. Even though access to finance is easy for us, getting finance in the villages is very difficult.

Mr Omar Abdullah, National Conference MP, said that while CMP is good enough for 2004-09, "it cannot serve as a vision document for 2020."

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Now, young MPs ponder over the CMP

Global bandwidth pricing — VSNL refutes US charges

New DG for ESIC