Iam not at the moment going into whether allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail is good or bad for the health of the body politic. I assume that it is good. The question uppermost in my mind is: Why the tearing hurry on the part of the Government to pitch for it and thereby stack the odds against itself?
The Government is already neck-deep in turbulent waters over the relentless upcreep in prices of basic commodities essential for the aam aadmi's survival; it has been routinely making a mess of whatever issue it is faced with, be it black money, corruption, infrastructural deficiencies, crumbling institutions or poor governance.
There can be no denying the general sense of mistrust among the people of all the soothing prophecies that the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr C.Rangarajan, and the Governor of the RBI have made in the past, and are making in the present, about the rates of inflation coming down in the future.
Captains of business and industry, who normally take care not to make explicitly disparaging remarks about the Government in public have, for some time, been coming out with a cutting description of the “paralysis in decision-making” by Government, throwing the polity into a state of drift.
UNORGANISED SECTOR
This was the time for the Government to be seen bending all its collective energies to solving pressing problems crying for immediate attention.
This certainly was not the time for it to wittingly pour turmoil on already troubled waters by going in for a highly unpopular decision.
Apart from its own spokespersons and some commerce and industry associations, almost every regional and national political party and every section of society have heatedly questioned the wisdom and timing of the move.
Even in regard to industry and business circles, while the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) would go the whole hog, the Confederation Indian Industry (CII) reportedly prefers “a calibrated approach in terms of the percentage and minimum capitalisation requirements”.
Of course, the unorganised sector, largely comprising small traders and retailers, is, to a person, bitterly opposed to it.
On the political front, the decision has given the Opposition a handle with which to stall Parliament on the legitimate ground of reflecting the prevailing apprehensions.
The UPA partners, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), commanding 36 MPs between them, are dead set against the decision. Heavy-weight Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have vowed to make it a non-starter.
POLITICAL MISMANAGEMENT
Closer to the bone, even within the Congress itself, some Union Ministers and party MPs from Uttar Pradesh, are said to have serious misgivings.
Thus, with this one inexplicable move, the Government has managed to create a crisis-like situation throughout the country.
Is this a case of egregious political mismanagement, which is the trademark of the UPA?
Could the Congress not have gone about it in a more politically sophisticated fashion by involving all sections of opinion in the process of forging an agreement on a sensitive issue affecting the livelihood of some 40 million people in the unorganised sector? Actually, considering its importance, the matter should have been brought before the National Development Council, or a Chief Ministers' Conference, followed by an all-Party meeting, prior to taking it to the Cabinet.
All the time the Government is now losing in fire-fighting could have been saved, if only it had shown the requisite judgment and good sense in suitably preparing the ground in advance.
Or, is it a case of breath-taking political sophistry?
Suppose the Congress knew the likely objectionable implications of the current proposal, but still pushed it to pretend to the world that it was all for more radical economic reforms and only domestic politics prevented it from making headway: By cleverly pinning the blame on its political opponents for the impasse and yet getting credit for wanting to open the doors to foreign business interests, would it not have had the cake and eaten it too?