PM asks industry to help build consensus on economic reforms

Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Mar 26 (PTI) In the backdrop of
opposition from some Chief Ministers especially of
Bhartiya Janta Party-ruled states on the proposed Goods and
Services Tax (GST), Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh
Saturday asked the industry to help build consensus crucial
for future economic reforms.
"Going forward, the pace of reform in India will
depend on how far our policies meet the test of democratic
consensus... it should not be assumed that the responsibility
of forging consensus, whether it is on a unified goods and
services tax or other economic legislation devolves on the
government alone," he said at the convocation of the Indian
Institute of Management here.
Singh said the industry must play "its part in
building public opinion, suggesting alternative policies that
reconcile multiple interests and objectives and canvassing its
viewpoint in a credible and transparent manner."
On GST, which is considered the most ambitious tax
reform in the country, the political parties are divided as
some Chief Ministers, especially of BJP-ruled states, have
raised the question of state autonomy, though the
Constitutional amendment bill has been introduced in
Parliament.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had earlier appealed
to the industry to help build political consensus to usher in
an unified tax regime of states and the Centre.
The Prime Minister said the success of the reforms
would also depend on ensuring that vulnerabilities of
different sections of population are addressed and the
corporates play their role as well.
"Companies undertaking greenfield projects cannot see
their factories and units as oases cut off from the needs and
interests of the community around them," the Prime Minister
said.
He also referred to land acquisition, an issue that
has become a bone of contention between farmers and the
industry and said more effective mechanisms and principles for
the use of land and other resources that reconcile different
interests should be worked out.
"At the larger level, our common task is to guide the
public debate on important issues, noisy as it sometimes can
be, towards a meaningful consensus," Singh said.
Lauding the IIMs for serving the managerial needs of
the country for five decades, the Prime Minister said "they
must now prepare our youth for the demands of a globalised
world..."
Noting that Indian managers face many challenges, he
said "it is their ability to deal with these challenges that
make them among the world’s best managers. Indian CEOs are
second to none in the world."
Singh said there is "a revolution of expectations" and a
"surge of aspirations" among the youth.
Recalling the progress of economic reforms initiated
in 1991, Singh said "today, the success of the reforms is
evident. We have long since left behind the era of modest
savings, low investment and low growth. India is today among
the world’s fastest growing economies.
"Our savings and investment rates give us confidence
that we can, with prudent policies and sound economic
management, achieve sustained double-digit growth," he said.
India, he said, has emerged as a global centre for
information technology, research, development and innovation
and has gradually become one of the most preferred
destinations for foreign investors.
Even people in rural India are seeking lives of
greater dignity and well being through the right to
information, education and employment, he said.
While India should take pride in its successes, the
country still has to deal with the problems of mass poverty,
hunger and disease and corruption, Singh said.
"We need to bridge the enormous infrastructure
deficit, the regional divide and the digital divide. We must
ensure much greater penetration of quality and affordable
social services", Singh said.