FM hears discordant notes on reforms

In their meeting with Chidambaram, the unions also demanded a sixth Pay Commission for government employees and wage board for various segments of the working population, including journalists.

Attacking the UPA government for not adhering to the CMP, they said the National Employment Guarantee Bill was neither offering jobs nor guaranteeing it to all those below the poverty line, including the urban poor and women. The last Budget, they said, did not fulfill the promises made in the CMP. They demanded a redraft of the National Employment Guarantee Scheme.

RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha’s Uday Patwardhan demanded a consultative group for identifying jobs for the employment guarantee scheme. G. Sanjeeva Reddy of Congress-affiliated Indian Trade Union Congress said the government needs to focus on small scale industries, self-employment schemes to boost employment while suggesting an “unemployment relief” for educated youth and skilled workers.

Economists, on the other hand, pitched for radical tax reforms and asked the government to ease FDI norms. They demanded more investments in infrastructure to attain a higher 7.5 per cent economic growth.

‘‘FDI can play a great role in increasing the GDP growth from 6.5 to 7.5 per cent,’’ ICRIER Director Arvind Virmani said after the meeting. He said the government should allow 100 per cent automatic FDI in most sectors subject to security clearance and target Fortune 500 companies for investing in India.

Institute of Economic Growth Director B.B. Bhattacharya said, ‘‘We have suggested to the finance minister to reverse the existing bias of fiscal incentives towards FIIs by giving more sops for promoting FDI.’’ He said the next Budget should be investment-friendly and growth-oriented for both public and private sectors.

Surjit Bhalla also pitched for tax reforms in the next Budget. Virmani said reforms in indirect taxes started in 1980 were yet to be completed and that was preventing the government from realising the real benefits.