Murlidhar Rao is the organising secretary of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic activism wing of BJP. SJM has strong views on economic policy and not just on the entry of foreign companies to India. Rao, who has studied law and has done field work with the RSS in different parts of the country, explains that SJM organisation is equally critical of the Indian industry for not taking care of consumers and not keeping the national interest in mind. In a conversation with PRANJAL SHARMA, he says that SJM will take up issues like PSU disinvestment and rationalising the power tariffs with the Government. What is SJM's agenda? Helping domestic industry or blocking foreign investment?We do not believe in isolation. We believe in co-existence. We want interdependence between Indian and foreign business, but not total dependence on them. Then why is it that you are known only for negative news like breaking soft drink bottles made by foreign companies?This is themedia's fault. It only believes in reporting sensational news. They report when we break bottles, but they do not report when we do constructive things.The previous Government used propaganda to show that the India could not survive without globalisations. That MNCs and FDI are essential for survival. To stop this propaganda we had to respond to extreme steps such as breaking bottles. We wanted to send a message that India should not bend over backwards to foreigners. You make it sound as if MNCs are terrible but the Indian industry is very virtuous.That's not correct. We know that the Indian industry is not very good. Indian companies do not help the consumers and do not pass on the concessions to the consumers. They don't have the confidence and still have a colonial trader's mindset. By collaborating with foreign companies they are trying to be secure about themselves. They are traders who have become industrialists but not true industrialists. Instead of concentrating of producing highquality goods and services, they keep asking for concessions.Earlier we were not interacting with them as they were not receptive. They abused us and said that we were going to take them to the middle ages. But now they are progressively receptive. They come to us with their sectoral problems. Now they realise that their self-interest is in the interest of the nation. Does SJM believe in competition?Yes, we believe in competition which serves the society. But the needs and interest of the economy have to be taken care of. Economy is not served by competition alone. There is no free and fair trade with MNCs. Foreign companies have cheap finance and have huge operations. You can't compare Indian companies with foreign companies. Competition has to be ensured. But MNCs kill competition. They are destroying the domestic industrial base. Local companies complain that power rates are high because of cross-subsidisation. The interest rates are also very high. Why doesn't SJM take up theseissues?We took up these issues. Power is a problem area. The state electricity boards are not paying their dues. Their losses are mounting. They starve generation companies. You can't give people free power. SJM seems to be blocking reforms in different sectors?Opening up is not bad. But the Government does not know how to operate in an open market. The problem is that the previous Governments opened up the economy without adequate safeguards. Imports were freed without an anti-dumping mechanism to deal with it.The Indian industry is accused of looting the investors by raising money, but not paying dividends. But this happened because there was no proper regulation of the market. SEBI has failed to comes with a suitable mechanism to boost private investors' confidence. The Government should have put proper monitoring mechanism before opening up different sectors. The same situation occurred in the case of NBFCs. First the Government allowed everyone to come in and raise investormoney. Then suddenly the Government made the rules so strict that they are unable pay back the investors. But you are opposing the opening up of the insurance sector where the Government is trying to set up an independent regulator. Why are you against following the banking sector example where foreign players are involved? The BJP promised it in its 13-day rule.We want only Indian participation in the insurance sector. The banking sector example is a theoretical construct. It is an ideal situation. But that can't happen here. It is a distant dream. There is no point in discussing it now. I don't see any logic in allowing foreign participation. The best skills can be hired by the Indian companies. In the present context, there is no need for foreign participation. What are your views on privatisation of PSUs?The Government has no business operating in business. The Government should keep a few things in mind and get out of the PSUs. The future of workers should be taken careof. Professional management should be brought in. Profitability of the PSUs is important and that should be a priority. Then why don't you publicly support and demand disinvestment?We will talk to the Government.
