भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ जन आंदोलन

 भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ जन आंदोलन

अब नहीं दबेगी आवाज

सरकार ने चालाकी से अन्ना हजारे और उनके समर्थकों को साझा बढ़ाना चाहती समिति की मांग पर समझा लिया और इस पूरी प्रक्रिया को जनता की भावनाओं के उबाल को शांत करने के लिए 'सेफ्टी वाल्व' की तरह इस्तेमाल कर लिया। और अब लोकपाल बिल के मुद्दे पर उलटे-सीधे बयानों के द्वारा सभी को बहस में उलझा रही है। अगर सरकार को अनिर्वाचित लोगों की मांगों से परहेज था तो पहले उन्हें आश्वासन क्यों दिए गए? इसी तरह कांग्रेस की सरकार बाबा रामदेव को मनाने और उनकी मांगों को मानने का झांसा देकर उन्हें यह समझाने में सफल रही थी कि वे अपने समर्थकों के एक बड़े वर्ग को अपने से दूर रखें। सरकार हमेशा से प्रयास कर रही है कि सभी आन्दोलनों के नेतृत्व पर अनर्गल आरोप लगाकर जनता का उन पर से विश्वास खत्म कर दिया जाए

सरकार अनगिनत विवादों में फंसी हुई है। विदेशों में जमा काला धन और भ्रष्टाचार के मामले उजागर होने के साथ ही यह विवाद शुरू हुआ है। इसलिए सरकार संकट में है और इसका नेतृत्व अंचभित राष्ट्र और व्याकुल उद्योग जगत को संतुष्ट करने में विफल रहा है। संवेदनशील मूहों से निपटने में सरकार की नाकामी सबसे दुःखद है, साथ ही इसने सरकार के इरादों को लेकर संदेह पैदा कर दिया है।

सर्वोच्च न्यायालय के ४ जुलाई के निर्देश के बाद यह भी स्पष्ट हो गया है कि सरकार काले धन के विरुद्ध कोई कदम नहीं बढ़ाना चाहती थी। सर्वोच्च न्यायालय ने स्पष्ट कर दिया है कि अगर सरकार की मंशा साफ होती तो यह कार्य असम्भव नहीं था। सरकार इसलिए भी कटघरे में है क्योंकि वह येन-केन-प्रकारेण विदेशों से पूंजी भारत में लाने का प्रयास कर रही है। चाहे इसके लिए ऐसे विदेशी बैंक को देश में शाखा खोलने की अनुमति देनी पड़े जिसका स्पष्ट उद्देश्य काले धन को छुपाना है। हसन अली के मामले में भी सरकार सभी सूचनाओं के आधार पर आगे बढ़ने का प्रयास नहीं कर रही है। इसलिए सर्वोच्च न्यायालय अब इस पूरी जांच प्रक्रिया को अपनी निगरानी में करने की घोषणा कर चुका है। और उसने कालेधन की जांच-पड़ताल के लिए विशेष जांच दल (एसआईटी) गठित कर दिया है। स्पष्ट हे कि सरकार भ्रष्टाचार के विषय में देश को गुमराह कर रही है।

सरकार की संदिग्ध भूमिका

देश में कानून को लागू करने और किसी भी व्यक्ति या संगठन की गैरकानूनी गतिविधियों को रोकने या उसकी जांच करने में सरकार की जिम्मेदारी को कोई भी व्यक्ति चुनौती नहीं दे रहा है। वह जांच करने और दोषी को सजा देने के लिए स्वतंत्र है। लेकिन इसकी मांग करने वालों के बारे में निराधार बयानों के द्वारा चरित्र हनन अकारण है। इस तरह की कोशिश को तत्काल रोका जाना चाहिए और सरकार को पारदर्शिता एवं बेहतर प्रशासन पर ध्यान केन्द्रित करना चाहिए

विचारधारा के मुद्दों पर आपकी अलग राय है तो इस पर खुली बहस का स्वागत है। एक लोकतंत्र में कई विचारों के लिए जगह होती है, भले ही आपस में मतभेद हों।

लेकिन प्रारंभ से ही कांग्रेस योजनाबद्ध तरीके से देश के सभी लोकतांत्रिक संस्थानों को नष्ट करती रही है। वर्तमान की घटनाएं यह दिखाती हैं कि भ्रष्टाचार के मुद्दे पर कांग्रेस की नीयत साफ नहीं है। उसका उद्देश्य उन सभी लोगों की आवाज दबाने का है जो भी इसके विरुद्ध आवाज उठा रहे हैं। सरकार ने चालाकी से अन्ना हजारे और उनके समर्थकों को साझा समिति की मांग पर समझा लिया और इस पूरी प्रक्रिया को जनता की भावनाओं  के उबाल को शांत करने के लिए 'सेफ्टी वाल्व' की तरह इस्तेमाल कर लिया। और अब लोकपाल बिल के मुद्दे पर उलटे-सीधे बयानों के द्वारा सभी को बहस में उलझा रही है। अगर सरकार को अनिर्वाचित लोगों की मांगों से परहेज था तो पहले उन्हें आश्वासन क्यों दिए गए?

अलोकतांत्रिक तौर-तरीके

इसी तरह कांग्रेस की सरकार बाबा रामदेव को मनाने और उनकी मांगों को मानने का झांसा देकर उन्हें यह समझाने में सफल रही थी कि वे अपने समर्थकों के एक बड़े वर्ग को अपने से दूर रखें। इसके लिए बन्द कमरे में दबाव की राजनीति के के द्वारा उनसे आश्वासन का पत्र भी लिखवा लिया। फिर ४ जून की रात्रि में अमानुषिक एवं अलोकतान्त्रिक तरीके से प्रहार करके उनके आन्दोलन को विफल करने का प्रयास किया। सरकार हमेशा से प्रयास कर रही है कि सभी पहलू यह है कि भ्रष्ट कारोबारी वर्ग, रियल एस्टेट डेब्लपर, भ्रष्ट नेता, नौकरशाह और इनकी सार्वजनिक निजी साझेदारी (पीपीपी) वाली परियोजनाओं एवं गैरसरकारी संगठनों (एनजीओ) के बीच साठगांठ को रोका जाए। इससे भी कालाधन जमा होता है। यदि यह नहीं किया गया तो आने वाले समय में हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था में अप्रत्याशित समस्याएं पैदा होंगी। हाल ही में रायटर्स ने भी एक रपट में लिखा है कि भारत जैसर्सी उभरती अर्थव्यवस्था को राजकोषीय अस्थिरता का सामना करना पड़ेगा और वैश्विक मंदी के समान संकट से बचना मुश्किल होगा।

कई बड़े संगठन एवं व्यक्ति भ्रष्टाचार की इस महा-बीमारी को रोकने का भरसक प्रयत्न कर रहे हैं। मैं इनमें से अनेक आन्दोलनों से करीब से जुड़ा रहा हूं। इन सभी गतिविधियों से जुड़े रहने के कारण मुझे लगता है कि निम्नलिखित दो प्रावधान हमारे उद्देश्यों को प्राप्त करने के लिए प्रभावी हथियार का रूप लेंगे।

निजी एवं गैरसरकारी क्षेत्र में घूसरोधी विधेयक

भ्रष्टाचार एवं कालेधन के कई आयाम हैं जिसका महत्वपूर्ण पहलू है इसका सृजन। भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ संयुक्त राष्ट्र की सभा (यूएनसीएसी) ने भी हमारी भ्रष्टाचाररोधी प्रणाली में कई खामियां पाई हैं। निजी क्षेत्र और एनजीओ में घूसखोरी रोकने के लिए हमारे पास कोई कानून नहीं है। ठेके और लाइसेंस आदि के मूल्यांकन के संबंध में तीसरे पक्ष के जरिए तुष्टिकरण और घूसखोरी, सरकारी नीति पर चर्चा के जरिए लामबंदी, निजी क्षेत्र द्वारा घूसखोरी पर अंकुश लगाने और विदेशी - नागरिकों को घूस देने पर रोक लगाने के संबंध ■ में हमारे कानूनी प्रावधानों में भी खामियां हैं। इन मुद्दों से प्रभावी ढंग से निपटने के लिए हमने ■ निजी क्षेत्र एवं एनजीओ क्षेत्र में घूसरोधी विधेयक के रूप में विशेष कानूनी प्रावधान सामने रखे हैं, जिसमें सभी शब्दों, मुद्दों और प्रावधानों को स्पष्ट रूप से परिभाषित किया गया है। हमारी इन्हें लागू करने की पुरजोर मांग है।

'फ्लोटिंग वारंट' अवधारणा

कर चोरी के शरणदाता देशों में जमा कालाधन के अपराधीकरण के संबंध में भी प्रावधानों की कमी है। कर चोरी उन देशों में अपराध नहीं है इसलिए इस मोर्चे पर सूचना के आदान-प्रदान के लिए हमारे पास अधिकारों की कमी है। हमने एक ऐसे 'फ्लोटिंग वारंट' की अवधारणा प्रस्तुत की है जैसा कि अमरीका में 'जान डॉ ला सूट

राष्ट्रव्यापी बहस का ध्यान भ्रष्टाचार से हटाया जा रहा है

आन्दोलनों के नेतृत्व पर अनर्गल आरोप लगाकर जनता का उन पर से विश्वास खत्म कर दिया जाए। यह साफ तौर पर इस बात का संकेत है कि राष्ट्रव्यापी बहस का ध्यान भ्रष्टाचार से हटाया जा रहा है। हमें यह नहीं भूलना चाहिए कि विश्व के सभी देशों में हमारे देश के लिए एक बहुत मजबूत और सकारात्मक धारणा बन रही थी। पर इस सुअवसर का लाभ उठाने का कोई प्रयास नहीं हो रहा है। सरकार और वरिष्ठ नौकरशाहों में एक सन्नाटा पसरा है और वे हतप्रभ अवस्था में हैं।

पिछले कुछ वर्षों में भ्रष्टाचार के आयाम बदल गए हैं। वैश्वीकरण और तेजी से बढ़ते आर्थिक विकास ने ऐसी स्थिति पैदा कर दी है। इस कारण कालाधन कई लोक लुभावन कल्याणकारी योजनाओं में भारी सरकारी खर्च के दुरुपयोग से पैदा हो रहा है। दूसरा महत्वपूर्ण के नाम से प्रसिद्ध है। उसमें जब तक दोषी की पहचान न हो जाए तब तक हम अज्ञात व्यक्तिा के खिलाफ एक फ्लोटिंग वारंट जारी कर सकते हैं और इस वारंट के आधार पर, विदेश में खाता रखने वाले उस व्याक्ति को, जिसे हम नहीं जानते हैं, अपराधी घोषित किया जा सकता है और उसके बारे में जानकारी मांगी जा सकती है। इस तरह से यह वारंट बाद में व्यक्ति को पहचान साबित होने पर उसके नाम हो जाता है।

हम पहले हो उद्योग संगठनों, वकीलों, पेशेवरों, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ताओं के साथ इस संबंध में कई दौर की बातचीत कर चुके हैं. जहां इन प्रावधानों को समर्थन मिला है। इसे काफी अनुसंधान एवं चर्चा के बाद तैयार किया गया है। मुझे लगता है कि एक व्यापक जनआन्दोलन के द्वारा ही सरकार इस विषय में कोई ठोस कदम उठाएगी।

गोपाल कृष्ण अग्रवाल,
राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ता, भाजपा

Don't pauperise farmers for profit

 Don't pauperise farmers for profit

By Gopal Krishna Agarwal,

Agricultural land is being acquired from farmers at throwaway prices by the Government and is being handed over to builders, who are developing mega projects and selling them to middle-class investors. In the process, the farmer is the ultimate loser

Dimensions of corruption have changed the recent past. Unchecked globalisation and economic development have created a situation where large amounts of unaccounted money are chasing limited available assets. This black money is generated through corruption, deficit financing and several welfare scheme freebies.

The major portion of this money is finding its way into the real estate sector. Corrupt politicians, Ministers and bureaucrats, in connivance with builders and developers, are exploiting gullible middle-class investors who dream of owning a house.

Agricultural land is being acquired from farmers at throwaway prices by the Government and is being handed over to builders, who are developing mega projects and with the efforts of their brand managers, dream-sellers and marketing personnel are selling them to middle-class investors. Local authorities are part of this racket and are now operating as real estate development companies. They are helping fill the coffers of some corrupt politicians.

When farmers whose land has been acquired come to know of these manipulations at a later stage and find out that their interests have not been protected by the faulty and outdated Land Acquisition Act, they are bound to agitate. This is what is happening in villages like Bhatta- Parsaul near Greater Noida. And if any corrective action takes place under pressure from courts or due to the agitation of the local people, leading to cancellation of these projects, then the middle-class investor's money goes down the drain

Similar is the situation in the case of land acquired for mining and industrial development. The economic develop- ment of the country also suffers. Land acquisition for industrial purposes has become one of the most contentious issues now. Land acquisition, in principle, is governed by the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The Act, despite getting amended in 1967 and 1984, does not address the twin issues of rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people In view of this, the Government of India announced the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation on Project-Affected Families in 2003, which came into force in February 2004. Later, in order to make the policy more effective Inverder the Act consistent with it. two Billsendmete Bill. 2007. and the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. 2007- were drafted but have been kept pending without being put up to Parliament.

 The Government must immediately take corrective measures. Foremost is the need to pass an amended Land Acquisition Act, taking into consideration proper compensation for farmers not only in monetary terms but also securing their livelihood. This can be done by paying compensation in installments over a longer duration, giving farmers a stake in the future profitability of the development project, and providing some form of employment for the families of those losing land.

To secure the interests of investors and control the real estate development lobby, there has to be a regulatory authority which will scrutinise all schemes, check disclosures regarding promises and risk factors, and make sure these are backed by proper legal documents. It also has to ensure that developers deliver on their promises and in the event of any default, investor interests are properly protected and they are duly compensated.

 An important aspect from the point of view of the national economy is the need to break the nexus between real estate developers, corrupt politicians and their Public Private Partnership protects which generates black monry through corrupt means. Otherwise, over a period of time, a real estate bubble will be created and will lead to unprecedented problems in our economy.

This asset bubble is also the result of the deficit financing to which the Government resorts every year. Experts have said that emerging economies such as Brazil and India face fiscal and current account deficits and a crisis similar to the one triggered by the global financial meltdown is inevitable.

The recent chain of events, whether it is the farmers agitation in Uttar Pradesh or the Maoist insurgency in various other parts of the country, reflect this point. We must immediately act on these issues and check this particular corrupt practice.

Landgrab as the new face pf the globalization

 Landgrab as the new face of the globalisation

DIMENSIONS of corruption have changed over recent past. Unchecked globalisation and economic development has created a situation where large amount of unaccounted money in the system is chasing limited available assets. This black money is generated through corruption, deficit financing and several welfare scheme freebies.

Major portion of this money is finding its way into real estate sector. Corrupt politicians in connivance with builders and developers' lobby is taking unsuspecting middle-class investors for a ride.

Agriculture land is being acquired from farmers at throwaway prices by the government and is being handed over to builders, develop mega real estate projects and, with the efforts of their brand managers and marketing personnel are selling these dream projects to middle-class investors. Local authorities like the Noida Authority and the Yamuna Expressway, etc, are all part of this package and are now operating as real estate development companies. They are filling the coffers of some of the corrupt politicians.

Once the farmer, whose lands has been acquired, comes to know of these manipulations at a later stage and finds out that his interests has not been protected by the faulty and outdated Land Acquisition Act, they are bound to agitate. This is what is happening in villages like Bhatta Parsaul, etc, near Greater Noida.

Similar is the situation in case of land acquired for mining and industrial development, etc. The economic development of the country also suffers many a times. Land acquisition for industrial purposes has become one of the very contentious issue now. Land acquisition, in principle, is governed by the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1894. The Act, despite getting modified in 1967 and 1984 do not address the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the displaced people. In view of this, the Government of India announced the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families has to (NPRR) in 2003, which came into force in February 2004. Later, in order to make the NPRR more effective and to make LAA consistent with NRPP, two Bills, viz, Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007 and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007, were prepared but have been kept waiting for the approval of the Parliament.

We immediately need to take correcting action. First and foremost is the passing of the Land Acquisition Act taking into consideration, proper compensation to the farmers not only in monetary terms but securing his future livelihood? Secondly, giving stake in the future profitability of the project and thirdly providing some form of employment for the family.

To secure the interest of the investors and control the real estate development lobby, there has to be a Regulatory Authority, which will examine all schemes, check all disclosures regarding promises and risk factors and also see whether these are backed by proper legal documents. It also has to ensure that developer's lobby delivers on their promises and in case there is any dereliction, then investor's interest are properly protected and they are duly compensated.

The third very important aspect from the point of view of the economy is that, this nexus of real estate developers, corrupt politicians and their Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects should be checked for creation of black money through corrupt means. Otherwise, over a period of time, real estate bubble will be created and will lead to unprecedented problems in our economy. This asset bubble is also the result of deficit financing of the government. In its recent release Reuters has reported that, emerging economies such as Brazil and India would face fiscal and current account deficits and a crisis similar to global meltdown is inevitable.

Recent chain of events and reports are pointing towards this menace whether it is farmers agitation in UP or Naxal unrest in various other parts of the country. We need to immediately act on these issues and check this corrupt practice.

Recovery of money stashed in foreign countries

 Recovery of money stashed in foreign countries

The generation and parking of this money in foreign countries are very closely related. The money which is parked in tax havens can be brought back only if we get proper information about the accounts being held in those countries. Ratification of UNCAC was one of the important requirements towards our empowerment of exchange of information. But these tax havens are not bound to divulge information unless these account holders are proved holding criminal money.

RECENT months have witnessed allegations of corruption of unprecedented levels. Dimensions of corruption have changed over past. Unchecked globalisation and economic development have created a situation where large amount of unaccounted money is being generated and is chasing limited available assets. This black money is generated through corruption, deficit financing and several welfare scheme freebies.

Another very important aspect from the point of view of the economy is that this nexus of corrupt business class, real estate developers, corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, and their Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects and NGO's needs to be checked for the creation of black money. Otherwise over a period of time, it will lead to unprecedented problems in our economy. Some international reports have also stated that, emerging economies such as India are bound to face fiscal destabilisation and a crisis similar to the global meltdown.

Several well-meaning organisations and individuals are doing their lot to check this rot. They have come out with several documents to check this menace. One of the primary concerns of the people is the large amount of unaccounted money stashed in foreign countries and ways and means to bring it back.

The generation and parking of this money in foreign countries are very closely related. The money which is parked in tax havens can be brought back only if we get proper information about the accounts being held in those countries. Ratification of UNCAC was one of the important requirements towards our empowerment of exchange of information. But these tax havens are not bound to divulge information unless these account holders are proved holding criminal money. We are in catch 22 situation: unless we know the identity, we can't prove it to be criminal money. These tax havens will not divulge information under tax evasion issue as they have zero tax liability and therefore tax evasion is not a crime in these countries.

They will never provide information under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). I suggest that we can use the Floating Warrant Concept as was successfully done in USA known as John Doe Lawsuit. A John Doe Summons is any summons where the name of the culprit under investigation is unknown and therefore not specifically identified. A summons of this nature can only be served after approval by a court.

 As we lack provisions relating to proving money stashed in tax havens as criminal money, we can use this warrant. We know that the money stashed in foreign countries can be classified into three categories: money accumulated through corruption, money generated through drug trafficking, terrorism or crime-related activities, and the third category is the tax evasion. The identity of the culprit is not known to us therefore, we have to issue a Floating Warrant on the unknown person. Based on the warrant, the person whose account is in the foreign country can be declared as an offender and the information regarding him can be demanded. The warrant gets fixed on the person at a later stage when his identity becomes known. With this, foreign countries will be bound under the UNCAC agreement to divulge information of these accounts. The information received through this process will not be classified as secret and therefore the government will be free to share it with public and other law enforcement agencies.

In relation to generation and prevention of corruption, one major gap in our domestic law is the prevention of bribery in the private and NGO sector. In all our existing laws regarding corruption, one party has to be government employee or a political person. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) has also identified these gaps. Our provisions lack mispricing and valuation of contracts and licenses. The definition regarding gratification and bribery through third party is not clear. Lobbying and influencing decision through public policy debate is not covered under corruption clearly. This year's official revenue foregone figures in our Budget is to the tune of Rs 5,11,630 crores in the form of tax concessions and therefore leaves a lot of scope for manipulations. We have also not defined code of conduct, rules, regulations, and guidelines to be put in place by private sector to check and control bribery. Our laws do not enforce prevention of bribing of foreign nationals.

To tackle these issues effectively we have come out with a specific legal provisions in the form of draft 'Prevention of Bribery in private/NGO sector bill' clearly defining all these terms and provisions.

Besides these provisions, this draft bill defines 'Bribe' as facilitation payments, directly or through third parties, including gift and hospitality expenses whenever they could affect the outcome of business transactions and are not reasonable. It says that a person shall be guilty of an offence of giving bribe, when committed intentionally in the course of economic, financial or commercial activities when it is established that there is a promise, offering or giving, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage to any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for a commercial entity, for the person himself or herself or for another person, in order that he or she, in breach of his or her duties, act or refrain from acting. It also covers solicitation or acceptance, of an undue advantage, for the person himself or herself or for another person.

The draft bill states that, the bribe becomes extortion when this demand is accompanied by threats that endanger the personal integrity or the life of the private actors involved, otherwise it takes the form of speed money. Speed money is the bribe given for expediting approvals and for providing services. The draft provides protection as a whistle-blower in case of the extortionist bribe.

This draft puts an obligation on a commercial entity to make adequate procedures, designed to prevent persons associated with it from undertaking bribery. And clearly defines the code of conduct to be put in place by the commercial entity. These procedures provide for commercial entities to establish and ensure the effectiveness of internal controls and compliance measures for preventing and detecting bribery.

We strongly suggest that these two concepts should be thoroughly discussed and considered for immediate implementation. We already had several rounds of discussion with business associations, lawyers, professionals and civil activist where these concepts have found favour.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal is the National spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party on economic affairs. 

Expectations from budget

 Expectations from Budget

By Gopal K Agarwal,

GOVERNMENT has to focus on Fiscal responsibility.

1. Over the last few years there is complete indiscipline in the management of budgetary deficit on account of various schemes and not providing them in the budget:

Loan waiver to farmers. Social Security's Scheme, MNREGS, with rampant corruption and complete disregard to labour and industrial policy.

2. Excess liquidity in the system as a result of: Deficit financing, Corruption and black money.

Causing dilemma to Policy Makers over the tradeoff between Inflation Economic growth.

3. Long overdue Pending Commodities market reforms: The whole Supply chain is in disarray. Large-scale Investment in storage and warehousing facility required through incentivizing Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee Act needs review, Immediate passing FCRA act in parliament to properly empower Forward Market Commission (FMC).

4. Some anomalies have come into Financial Markets that need immediate attention: Very High cost of transaction at domestic exchanges due to multiplicity of taxes leading to Fight of transaction to international market, Infrastructure investments for making Mumbai as a Global Financial Center, Autonomy of SEBI has to be kept intact and away from intervention of Ministry of finance, Complete removal of Securities Transaction Tax (STT), delinking it from Capital Gains Tax, which is the route being adopted to bring back money stashed in foreign countries by culprits through the Participatory Notes(PN) mechanism, Implementation of Uniform Stamp duty across all states and not link it to GST, which is facing stiff resistance from states.

5.Checking illegal flows and bringing transparency in International financial flows: Signing of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) with all tax havens, Control over Transfer Pricing so as to check Under and Over invoicing of imports and exports, Put checks and balances in the General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) Provisions, to keep check on draconian powers to Income tax department.

6. Disinvestment of Public Sector Units so that government concentrates on Governance instead of business and these units do not become dens of corruption for the people in power.

7. Issue of subsidy payment directly to the end user in the form of cash through Unique Identification Number (UID). Subsidy should be target driven and not product based.

8. Inclusive growth through structural reforms and not through social security measures. At present 37 per cent of GDP is being used for them and these are being misused to buy votes.

9. FDI in retail and other sectors is a very contentious issue and needs a detailed rethink. Secondly, at present we don't need foreign exchange reserves to that extent, therefore we can hold ourselves in this matter and change our priorities looking into the requirement of domestic industry and trade.

10. Cooperative sector has contributed a lot to the overall development in the country and therefore has to be given special treatment. And the exceptions that have been withdrawn under Direct Tax Code (DTC) have to be restored, but only for smaller cooperative so that they do not become vehicle of business.