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Slow down reforms: former PMs

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The plank is very clearly anti-reforms and pro-poor. The four former prime ministers who addressed the media yesterday were clear in their denunciation of liberalisation that had "exposed even cottage industries to unequal competition and acquisition sprees by multinationals."

Speaking to rediff.com, former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh said that liberalisation must be seen more closely. "We are not saying stop reforms, but why are we opening up so fast that it is harming the poorer section of our society," he asked.

Singh was particularly critical of the opening up of the agricultural sector wherein the imports of cereals is to be allowed while the tariffs on exotic fruits and flowers has been reduced, thus increasing the imports in these areas.

"Even under the WTO, there is no need to open up agriculture right now. Moreover, agriculture in India is very different from the West. Here, a huge section of our farmers are poor and a large percentage of our people depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. This way we are directly harming their livelihood," he declared.

Singh added that while he did not oppose the reforms process, it must be seen issue by issue. His colleague, former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral concurred. "We have mentioned in our statement that government expenditure must be curbed, but we do not believe that the state has no role," he insisted.

When specifically asked whether he supported the case of opening up the insurance sector, a task that was attempted in vain when was the prime minister, he demurred, "I don't want to go into specific issues. Right now we are concerned about the opening up in the agriculture that will harm the farmers," he told rediff.com.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, the third person in this quartet (former prime minister Chandra Shekhar is the fourth) pointed out that in economic policies, there was no difference between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. "The two have the same economic policies which is only harming the interests of the poor and the farmers, who comprise the bulk of our population," he said.

Of the lot, Deve Gowda was the most critical of the present economic policies and most articulate in terms of opposing them. "We are organising a rally during which we will highlight these issues and mobilise the people to oppose such anti-poor economic policies," he declared.

He was categorical that the foursome were aiming to woo the farmers and the poor. Asked if he had plans to woo the middle class, considered the greatest supporters of liberalisation, he said, "The very fact that we are planning our rallies in small towns and rural areas shows that we are concerned about the farmers and their interests. They are being harmed by policies that favour the multinationals," he added.

Singh said that while not everything connected with reforms was bad, he insisted that there must be a balance. "It is like your blood pressure: it can't be high, it can't be low; it must be just right. Similarly, economic policies must be right, not one way or the other," he reiterated.

Gujral insisted that they were not anti-reforms per se or seeking to reverse the process of liberalisation. "We are only opposed to some aspects of reforms that are harming the poor people. We support reforms where it is positive. Our choices are made issue by issue," he said emphatically.

In their statement that was released to the press by the four former prime ministers, out of 11 points listed, six were concerned with the economic situation and policies. Incidentally, the father of Indian liberalisation, former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, was the only surviving former prime minister who was not present in this meet of ex-premiers.

However, Chandra Shekhar said in his speech that they were in touch with Narasimha Rao and, moreover, he was in concurrence with the statement issued.

The statement also warned the government against the reduction on subsidy on urea, claiming that it would affect the food production and India's food security. It added that India's subsidy to agriculture was the lowest in the world.

It also flayed the government for relinquishing its role in building economic and social infrastructure and leaving the same to the "so-called" private sector. The statement claimed that even if infrastructure was built, it would be beyond the reach of the common man.

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