New Delhi, Dec 7(ANI): Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today slammed the Central government for delaying their decision to suspend the introduction of foreign direct investment in the retail sector.
It comes after Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced that the retail reforms would be put on hold until a consensus could be reached amongst all political parties.
Speaking to mediapersons in New Delhi, Yashwant Sinha said the decision should have been made sooner in order to ensure smooth proceedings of the winter session of parliament.
"The spectacle we saw in parliament and outside would not have happened if the government would have done exactly what they have said they will do in future. Had they done it before, then the stalemate would not have taken place," Sinha said.
"The problem with this government has been, not only in this issue but many other issues, that they act first and think later. And naturally, because their action is wrong, the action is a mistake, they have to re-trace their steps. So this has done a great damage to the credibility of this government," he added.
Protests in parliament paralysed both chambers every day since the 21-day winter session opened on November 22.
The deadlock came after the Congress-led government last month approved 51 percent foreign direct investment in the supermarket sector, paving the entry of firms such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour into an untapped market worth 450 billion dollars.
Aimed at curbing high inflation and streamlining supply chains, the attempted reform sparked a huge backlash from opposition parties and domestic traders fearing job losses for millions of small businesses.
Venkaiah Naidu also criticised the government for disrupting parliamentary proceedings.
"Though they may not have used the word rollback, they have agreed to keep abeyance, till all the stakeholders, that means state governments, retail traders, political parties arrive at a consensus. The government should have done this ten days back, they have unnecessarily wasted the time of the parliament," said Naidu.
The retreat, within two weeks of the policy being announced, is another nail in the coffin of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic reform program, just as Asia's third-largest economy suffers from slowing growth and falling investment.
It is also likely to cement a view that India is an emerging market slowcoach compared to other so-called BRICS nations such as China and Brazil. (ANI)
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