BJP manifesto guide vows more market reforms

The promise to allow provident funds to invest in the stock markets essentially follows from a recommendation of the S A DaveCommittee on PF reforms — Dave had argued that the only way to increase the annual returns for PFs was to allow them to invest in equity, as had been done in a few other countries across the world.

Strangely, Sinha did not even address this issue at today’s press conference. In the event, Sinha did not address the issue of the kind of checks which will be put in place to ensure that hard-working citizens do not lose their life savings if their PF funds invest in the wrong stocks. Or to ensure that, as at present, politicians and bureaucrats aren’t allowed to influence these funds to buy certain stock — in the past, several top financial institutions have bought stock of favoured firms because the Government of the day wanted them to do so.

Other promises made today include creating a separate tribunal called Commercial Insolvency Tribunal to take up cases relating to winding up of companies and their revival. In the infrastructure sector, it has spoken of: cold storage facilities being enlarged and madeavailable at all ports and major airports; restructuring the state electricity boards by corporatising them, setting up Power Trading Corporations, developing national transmission network and further simplifying project clearance process, and so on. The Charter also talks of setting up a Food Development Bank of India; creating warehouse space and developing bulk handling facilities; and prepare a draft national storage policy. It talks about enhancing existing cold storage capacity and revive sick cold stores.

Oops!

You’ve heard of explanatory memoranda, well the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s now brought in the concept of explanatory manifestos. How else do you explain Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha actually releasing A Charter of Commitments’ today which actually promises radically new measures not even mentioned in An Agenda’ which was released as the alliance’s manifesto in a grand ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee just four days ago.

Neither officialsin the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) nor Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, however, chose to elaborate on why two separate manifestoes were released. Unofficially, however, a PMO source told this newspaper that today’s manifesto was not given out on Monday by mistake’. Interestingly, some journalists, like some foreign wire services, got copies of the Charter during Monday’s function itself, but were asked by embarrassed BJP leaders not to confuse this with the Agenda, and to report the Charter later!