The Hindu Business Line : PM promises humane rehabilitation policy

WARM WELCOME: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, with the FICCI President-elect, Mr Habil F. Khorakiwala, and the Patron of FICCI, Mr K. K. Birla, at the 79th annual general meeting of the apex chamber, in the Capital on Monday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Jan. 8

Speaking in the backdrop of violence in West Bengal over land acquisition for industrial development, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said on Monday that the Government will finalise a new Rehabilitation Policy in three months to tackle issues such as land acquisition, displacement of people and their rehabilitation in a transparent manner. "The new policy will be more progressive and humane to the long-term welfare of all stakeholders," he said.

Inaugurating the 79th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Monday, Mr Singh said that he had noticed that not all proposals for investment in large projects materialise owing to various hurdles and bottlenecks.

"Many of these require inter-ministerial action or close co-ordination between the Centre and States. I will ask the Finance Ministry and the Investment Commission to suggest an institutional mechanism whereby large scale projects in the public and private sectors are facilitated so that they take off as planned," he said.

Reiterating his commitment towards increased economic integration between India and the economies of the East and South-East Asia, the Prime Minster said, "We have laid out a timetable for tariff reduction and we must adhere to it. Indian industry can no longer seek excessive protection through tariffs and must prepare for the brave new world of global integration." Stressing the need for a liberal, equitable and transparent domestic tax regime, Mr Singh declared that in the long run, "our tax regime should not have too many exemptions which make tax administration an unnecessarily complex exercise, vulnerable to misuse."

He further said, "Not only do we have a goal of investing over $320 billion in our infrastructure sectors, we have also to create the necessary institutional structures and tangible investment opportunities to enable this investment to actually happen."

The outgoing FICCI President, Mr Saroj Kumar Poddar, pointed out that a double-digit rate of growth would require five principal elements — pushing the frontiers of manufacturing revolution and target to bring the share of manufacturing sector in GDP from 17 per cent to 25 per cent, need for an infrastructure revolution, fine-tune the tax structure to increase the base while taking advantage of the Laffer curve effect, strategic focus on second generation reforms and bridging the rural-urban divide by ushering in a second Green Revolution.

While speaking later during the day, the Opposition leader, Mr L.K. Advani, condemned the special economic zone (SEZ) policy of the UPA Government. "Although SEZs are needed as enclaves of world class manufacturing units with special focus on exports, it is unfortunate that the UPA Government has not exercised the necessary precaution and transparency in formulating and implementing the policy," he said.

Mr Advani said his party does not favour fertile agriculture land to be acquired for setting up of SEZs and industrial units. "And where ever farmer's land is purchased for this purpose, they must not only receive just compensation and effective rehabilitation but also some kind of stake in the project or a regular income stream," he added.

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