BHUBANESWAR: Describing the decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail as ‘highly regressive’ and ‘ill- advised’, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop it.
“In our considered view, this policy is ill-advised and highly regressive. I would, therefore, earnestly request you to reconsider the matter and withdraw this policy immediately,” Naveen said in a letter to the Prime Minister. “I am deeply distressed to hear about the Union Cabinet’s approval for allowing 51 per cent FDI in the retail sector,” he said observing that the biggest challenge facing the country is persistent double-digit inflation.
Claiming that the move would only favour large MNCs which would have monopoly over trading in the country, the Chief Minister said the Centre should have instead strengthened marketing opportunities for farmers and small-scale manufacturers.
The Centre should have done this through appropriate supply side interventions, including stepping up investment in rural infrastructure and R & D for augmenting farm productivity, Naveen said.
Moreover, in a federal country, the Union Government should not have taken such a major policy decision without consulting state governments, the Chief Minister said.
The Odisha Government had on Sunday strongly opposed the Centre’s decision to allow FDI in retail. BJD members in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had opposed the decision of the Centre to allow FDI in retail. BJD Rajya Sabha member Baisnab Charan Parida told this paper that the party MPs would continue to oppose the decision.
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