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Government refuses to be a mere caretaker

George Iype in New Delhi

As mid-term elections are unlikely to be held before September, the caretaker Atal Bihari Vajpayee government is keen that its key economic policies and initiatives and major international commitments are not put in cold storage in the next five months.

Prime Minister Vajpayee, who consulted his Cabinet colleagues on the powers of a caretaker government today, has decided to seek President K R Narayanan's sanction and the Election Commission's approval to implement some of the priority programmes.

As per convention, a caretaker government - generally dubbed a lame-duck government -- is morally bound to not announce and implement major policy measures or incur large-scale expenditure.

But since the Constitution does not bar the government from executing its programmes, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition wants to ensure that the Opposition parties do not make a hue and cry in the run-up to the election.

"There is nothing called a caretaker government in the Constitution and therefore our government will be taking all the appropriate decisions in time," Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan said after the Cabinet meeting.

He told reporters that if elections are held in September, the Vajpayee government will have the longest term as a caretaker government in Indian history. Therefore, Mahajan said, it does not want to leave the administration to the bureaucracy and give up policy implementation. The BJP is not interested in running a government in limbo for almost six months.

But since the Cabinet Secretary has already issued a notification urging the government not to take any major policy decisions till the election, officials said the prime minister would write to both the President and the Election Commission, stating the need for a new set of rules to govern the country in the next six months.

As per the notification, the government will have to approach the President for clearing every major administrative file.

Officials said Vajpayee will argue his case under Article 74 of the Constitution to state that he would like to lead a full-fledged government at the Centre as the BJP is against the idea of a caretaker government and wants the poll to be held as early as possible.

According to officials, the untimely downfall of the Vajpayee government has held up major policy initiatives and announcements from ministries like finance, power, housing, urban development and pharmaceuticals.

For instance, the government's collapse has virtually nullified the opening of tenders for investment in power projects worth US $10 billion. Similarly, proposed foreign investments in housing and pharmaceutical sectors will also held up this year as global companies will desist from carrying out their plans till a new government is sworn in.

But what has upset the government is the fear that it will have to abandon some of the major international commitments the BJP had been planning to fulfil by September. They include swift action on crucial issues like the patents under the World Trade Organisation regulations, the implementation of the Indo-Sri Lanka trade accord, which came into effect in March, and signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

After the nuclear tests in May 1998, the government has carried out a series of diplomatic dialogues and consultations with the United States and the other P-5 nations about signing the controversial CTBT.

The deadline for singing the CTBT is September and India has already promised the United Nations that it will not obstruct the treaty from coming into force if all countries agree to ratify it.

EARLIER REPORT:
Government refuses to 'take care'

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