Shri Nitish
Kumar
Honourable
Chief Minister
Bihar
Dear Sir
The
Congress-ruled states’ chief ministers Sheila Dikshit, Prithviraj Chavan,
Bhupendra Singh Hooda and Tarun Gogoi have mounted pressure on to implement the
pending decision of allowing 51% FDI in retail sector. The Union Commerce and
Industry minister Anand Sharma is running pole to pillar to garner support of
non-Congress chief ministers for the immediate implementation of the decision.
As you know, the UPA government was forced to withhold the decision, announced
in November end last year, following united and stiff protest by the
non-Congress political parties and trade union bodies. The Congress chief
ministers and Anand Sharma, who championed the proposal, are giving same
untenable arguments in favour of FDI which have been refuted by the experts and
concerned citizens in the debate raised after announcement of the decision. If
cold storage/refrigeration is necessary to preserve fruits and vegetables, as
argued by Sheila Dikshit, this does not call for foreign assistance. It can,
obviously, be well accomplished and arranged for by India on her own.
In early May,
the US Foreign Secretary Mrs. Hillary Clinton visited India with this agenda at
top priority. Mrs. Clinton has served on Wal-Mart board as its director for six
years. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, expressed utmost resentment
against the decision. That is why Mrs. Clinton went to Calcutta first to meet
and praise Mrs. Banerjee. The Indian MD of the French retail giant Carrefour
called on Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and raised the issue of
allowing FDI in retail at the earliest. In fact, the UPA government is bent
upon implementing this decision in favour and benefit of foreign multinational
retail chain companies at the cost of retailers and farmers of the country. The
government, adhering to its neo-liberal policies, can possibly declare any time
that it would implement the decision anyway. In case this decision is
implemented, it would be disastrous not only for the retailers and farmers of
the country but also for the cultural ethos of the Indian society.
In view of
this descending danger, the Socialist Party held a day-long dharna at Jantar
Mantar on 28 May 2012 against the government’s decision and submitted a
memorandum to the President requesting her to advise the government to scrap
the decision conclusively.
Ours is a new
party and we do not have members in the parliament or legislative assemblies. Therefore,
we wrote to the president/general secretary of your party a few days ago seeking your co-operation to
place pressure on the government through the parliament and through other
democratic means in order to scrap this decision immediately. Now we write to
you to kindly declare that Bihar, one of the largest and most important states
in India, will not implement this anti-people and anti-national decision JD
(U)’s close association with the socialist movement in India gives us a great
hope that you will support the cause of small traders and farmers against the
neo-liberal onslaught on their livelihood.
A copy of the
memorandum is attached for your kind perusal.
With best
regards
Bhai
Vaidya
Dr. Prem Singh
President
General Secretary
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