Sangh stays away, lets Jaitely hammer in Govt's reforms agenda

Sangh stays away, lets Jaitely hammer in Govt's reforms agenda
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, JULY 18: The much touted face-off between the RSS and the Vajpayee government on the contentious issue of disinvestment did not materialise today with the former failing to turn up at a seminar on the ``impact of disinvestment on the Indian economy.''

In the absence of the RSS joint general secretary Madan Das Devi, Disinvestment Minister Arun Jaitley seized the opportunity to drive home the government's point of view. He made a passionate defence of the entire disinvestment exercise, answering in the process, the doubts that have been raised in the past by the RSS-SJM-BMS combine and the Left parties.

Decks had been been cleared in the FICCI auditorium for what was being billed as ``a big fight'' between the two sides. But soon, the organisers announced that the RSS leader was unable to attend the function ``due to some unavoidable reasons.''

However, once Jaitley took stage, he answered all queries that have been raised by various quarters. The issue, he said, was related to the whole concept of the role of government which has changed drastically the world over. The decentralisation process in the Indian context, according to him, was both economic and political. ``And the way to achieve it would be the art of the possible,'' he said.

The process, he pointed out, was started in 1991 and continued during the United Front regime. Lashing out at the Left parties, one of which was part of the government and the other supporting it from outside, he said the appoinment of the Disinvestment Commission was a part of the Common Minimum Programme. ``Bulk of the companies, 40 to be precise, which have been disinvested were, in fact, referred to the commission by the UF governnment,'' he said.

The total losses of a 19-mill textile firm, Jaitely said, (he couldn't reveal state secrets by saying it was NTC!) were Rs 980 crore last year, on a turnover of, hold your breath, Rs 680 crore. Its accumulated losses are Rs 7,000 crore -- figure out how many hospitals could be built from this, Jaitley asked triumphantly.

And don't talk of how the Rs 18,300 crore got by the government through disinvestment over the past decade was used in revenue expenditure -- for during the same period, the government ploughed in another Rs 61,000 crore by way of loans and write-offs into keeping exactly these very PSUs alive.

The crux of the argument, Jaitley emphasised, was that valuable public money (Rs 250,000 crore at last count) could not be allowed to remain invested in public sector units which gave returns of just a few percent. This money would be better invested elsewhere, in the social sector, and would give far better returns.

The minister contended if the country had to have a 7-8 per cent growth rate, as promised by the Finance Minister for the current financial year, or the 8-10 per cent as envisioned by the Prime Minister, disinvestment had to be an essential component of economic policy.

Though the Bharatiya Vitta Salahakar Simiti, which organised the debate, is an NGO close to the RSS, what emerged was a setting made entirely for Jaitley.

Although Devi failed to show up, the BVSS general secretary began by stating the reasons for privatisation straight from the National Agenda for Governance kind of document -- to help revive PSUs, to protect millions of jobs, etc. Other colleagues of his followed it up by quoting an interview by Jaitley on the virtues of disinvestment to a business magazine.

The other main speaker, K S Mehta, who heads the Punjab Haryana Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), also made vital points in favour of privatisation.