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Govt is prepared to deal with resistance to reforms, says Sinha

Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said any resistance to the reform process would be tackled by the government appropriately, be it politically, intellectually or at the grassroot level.

The Centre has resolved to launch the second generation of reforms and embark upon an all-out campaign in favour of unpopular measures it might have to take.

Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on second generation reforms, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Calcutta, Sinha said a massive awareness campaign would be launched to change the mindset in which ''privatisation is a dirty word and foreign investment is unwelcome''.

The finance minister said the government would push through the proposal for investing pension funds in the capital market against which a lot of misinformation campaign has been launched by the opposition.

Sinha stoutly denied the opposition charge that the government was acting under the pressure of the IMF or World Bank. ''I don't need to ask IMF or World Bank to balance my country's budget. We have no no programmes with the IMF in this regard whatsoever,'' he added.

The finance minister said the government was convinced that it was following a path which was suited to national interest and would hasten the country's progress.

The finance minister said in the next fiscal year, the government would be strict in financial management and try to submit a zero deficit budget.

Responding to an appeal by FICCI president Sudhir Jalan for necessary amendment to the Labour Act to hasten the reform process, Sinha said the government was at present preparing a list of outdated legislations in a bid to repeal them and enable the judiciary to function smoothly.

Sinha said the government was on its way to formulating a national policy which was very important for the second phase of reforms. A committee had already been appointed and asked to give its recommendations on enacting laws on competition, he said.

Pointing to the opposition to private participation in insurance and banks, he said unless such measures were taken, the institutions would be in the red.

He said it was ''absolutely necessary'' that the second generation of reforms was implemented to achieve at least eight per cent economic growth rate at a sustained rate for the next ten years. ''We can do this if we can usher in the second generation of reforms which cannot wait any more.''

Earlier, the FICCI president urged the government, among other things, to ensure at least five per cent recycling of labour for a better productivity in the industry, a greater thrust towards privatisation, a look at the agricultural sector in terms of subsidy and investment of pension funds in capital market to change the health of the economy.

UNI

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