The licence-permit-quota raj may be over, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told FICCI’s platinum jubilee session today, but ‘‘the inspector raj still survives.’’ This seemed like music to the ears of incoming FICCI chief A C Muthiah who sat on the dais next to the Prime Minister.In fact, Muthiah, who, as reported in The Indian Express today, received a notice from financial institutions last week to pay back Rs 250 crore or face legal action, used Vajpayee’s comment in his wrap-up speech. ‘‘The Prime Minister understands the problems industry faces due to the inspector raj,’’ he said, without, of course, referring to India Inc’s mountain of unpaid loans that threatens to subvert the financial system.For his part, Vajpayee, too, glossed over this issue despite openly expressing dissatisfaction with the pace of reforms. ‘‘Let us talk about the good things happening in the economy with pride, joy and self-confidence,’’ he said. ‘‘Let us not have only negative news and negative comments hog the headlines. It doesn’t help anybody. It only spreads cynicism and pessimism which are malignant viruses that weaken our national energy.’’The positive news, however, came only on the political front. Vajpayee said: ‘‘We conducted free and fair polls in Jammu and Kashmir, braving all the odds. Gujarat, too, has voted yesterday, without any violent incidents and with a big voter turnout.’’ He said that the Government had shown how a coalition could work and therefore would last the entire term.On the economy front, however, Vajpayee expressed concern over ‘‘the systems, procedures, rules and regulations in the government,’’ which have not changed much despite a decade of economic reforms. Vajpayee also confessed that slow progress in areas like tackling problems of fiscal consolidation, building up of power infrastructure and labour reforms was ‘‘worrying.’’‘‘The persisting problems in fiscal consolidation at the centre and states worry me. The slow implementation of power sector reforms worries me. The slow progress in labour reforms worries me. The pace of infrastructure investments worries me. We need to move rapidly in these areas,’’ Vajpayee said.The Prime Minister also said that many entreprenueurs—especially those in the small and medium scale sectors—are routinely harassed and humiliated under the inspector raj. ‘‘This must end,’’ he said. Vajpayee appealed to the industry as well as the media not to talk only about negative aspects of the economy. ‘‘Let us not let trivial issues, petty rivalries and old habits of managing the system through unethical practices vitiate the business and political and business environment and damage the interface between business and government.’’ While asserting that he was not seeking overlooking of his government’s weaknesses, he said that ‘‘criticism should be expressed in a constructive spirit.’’The Platinum Jubilee celebrations of FICCI also saw a change of guard with R S Lodha, president of FICCI passing on the baton tomorrow to Muthiah, chief of the SPIC Group.
