Time for ceiling on profit margins — Joshi

He said that the free market economy had ushered in an era in which multinational companies had an upper hand and the domestic industry was facing problems. He said that there was a need to create a level playing field for domestic industry to compete with the multinationals. He also stressed the need to inculcate the `Be Indian, Buy Indian’ attitude among the people. He observed that while foreign companies were getting concessions, their Indian counterparts were still tangled in problems of steep duties adding that the Indian manufacturer had a problem in accounting for the money paid as bribes to government officials and politicians.

He said that ambitious welfare schemes launched during his tenure as the state chief minister were being discontinued by the Congress-led coalition government. He expressed dissatisfaction over the current DF government’s effort to scuttle many welfare schemes launching during his reign, including ban on donations during school admissions, scheme worth Rs 7,100 to make Maharashtra tanker-free by 2000, the decision to freeze prices of essential commodities supplied through the public distribution system (PDS) for five years.

Advocating an aggressive consumer movement to act as a pressure group, the Union minister stated that unless the movement gained enough strength to topple politicians, it would not be taken seriously.