Khurshid,Joshi call for political mandate for PPPs,reforms

Law and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid,who released the book said,the government must now adopt “a language of reform”. The Congress had not won an election on a reform platform,he said. The liberalisation of the economy after 1991 was a “bureaucratic reform revolution” but the country was yet to witness a “political reform revolution”,Khurshid said.

Joshi said a non-plan allocation of under Rs 1,000 crore for maintaining a road network 70,000 km-long left the ministry with little choice but to involve private builders. But the government had not explained its financial constraints to the public. “We require a change of mindset in political leaders,a change of mindset in activists,and a change of mindset in the entire nation,” he said.

The roads minister also took a jibe at Haldea before he finished. “A catalyst facilitates a chemical reaction,but itself remains in the background. That issue Mr Haldea will have to address.”

In the past,Haldea has claimed copyrights on model concession agreements,inviting criticism about the propriety of serving government officers making such demands.

Khurshid said ministers needed shake off their inertia and renew their efforts to improve governance. The government also needed to “put things right” in the wake of a series of corruption scandals. However,he told the press: “There has to be a closure on how much wrong there can be.”

PPPs have not escaped controversy. Shekhar Gupta,Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express,warned that a nexus had formed between politicians and some businesses. Having torn down the Licence Raj,”how do you start dismantling the Contract Raj?” he asked.

TN Ninan,Chairman and Editorial Director,Business Standard said fiscal constraints had pushed the government in India to depend more on the private sector to build infrastructure.