The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) yesterday demanded that almost all members of the economic and trade advisory councils set up by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee be dropped on the ground that they are anti-swadeshi.
The organisation, which has top RSS leaders like K S Sudarshan, Dattopant Thengdi and Madan Das as its patrons, expressed concern over "retention, promotion and recognition" of bureaucrats identified with liberalisation. N K Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Mohan Guruswamy have been named in this context. The SJM has threatened an agitation if the government deviates any further from the swadeshi line the BJP had promised in its manifesto. According to P Muralidhar Rao, SJM organiser, no pro-swadeshi industrialist or economist has been included in the councils. The SJM, a fraternal organisation of the BJP, was also not consulted, he added.
"Five months may not be a long time, but it is long enough to gauge the direction in which the government is moving. Due to the presence of people like Vajpayee and L K Advani in the government, we thought the swadeshi thrust would get further momentum. But some decisions taken are cause for concern, and the government needs to re-evaluate its direction", Rao said.
Some of the SJM's points of concern are: allowing 100 per cent FDI in liquor and cigarettes, the Maruti-Suzuki deal, exim policy in line with World Trade Organisation commitments, awarding the Neyveli expansion contract to an Italian firm, Ansaldo, which does not have the requisite expertise, continuing the ban on common salt, and extending "needless" counter-guarantees to power projects. The SJM claims the BJP made a volte face on such issues by opposing them while being in the opposition and now taking recourse to the same steps. Moreover, the BJP was also alleged to be going against its own stated position outlined in its election manifesto, he said.
When former finance minister P Chidambaram proposed foreign investment in insurance, the BJP had strongly opposed the move. Rao noted that now a note had come up before the cabinet some time back which proposed that some foreign investment should be allowed. He regretted that those who had ridiculed and abused the swadeshi concept had been encouraged and even rewarded by the Vajpayee government.
"The SJM warns the government not to give in to vested interests and business lobbyists...The SJM urges the government to reconstitute the trade and economic advisory councils in order to remove their anti-swadeshi character. In particular, it calls upon the government to undo the recognition and promotion given to the bureaucrats who have repeatedly compromised with national interests. The SJM also demands that the government appoint a bureaucrat with proven integrity and commitment to the nation as the member secretary of the two bodies", the SJM resolution adopted after a two-day meeting of its steering committee said. Apart from senior RSS leaders and those belonging to other fraternal organisations, the SJM meeting was also attended by S Gurumurthy and Govindacharya, BJP general secretary. Rao said if the Vajpayee government continued in its present course, the SJM would "prepare the people for agitation and mass protest". He said `rath yatras' have been planned in every state between September 17 and October 2.
