Finance
Minister P Chidambaram has admitted failure of the government
in not being able to carry forward financial reforms as desired
in banking, insurance and pension sectors. At the same time
desired results have not been achieved as regards proper implementation
of public welfare programmes and the delivery system in health,
education and employment sectors has fared poorly. Addressing
the inaugural function of the Indian Economic conference organised
by the World Economic Forum and Indian Trade Chamber, Chidambaram
admitted the pace of these programmes was slow due to the
lackadaisical attitude of the bureaucracy. It may be mentioned
that development and progress are possible only when the bureaucracy
works in a positive and transparent manner in any field which
is not generally the case. Chidambaram may be right but the
FM forgets that when the question of making Indian companies
strong to move ahead is concerned, the government too is responsible
somewhere. The government's role in taking forward Indian
companies is no less. The industries need to be given facilities
as per their requirements. The situation today is akin to
tying the hands and legs and telling to run. The first need
to help the Indian industries today is to reduce the taxes;
at the same time inflation should also be brought down. There
is also need to look at policy concerning subsidy. Only that
sector should get subsidy where there is profit. There is
also need to bring down bank interest rates. The bank provides
interest on deposits at 8-10pc but charges interest on loan
it gives between 14 to 16pc. Such a big gap between giving
and taking money needs to be bridged as seen in foreign countries.
Only the government can take initiative to bring necessary
changes in the system.
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