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PM's meet with Ministers enthuses trade

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Jan. 4

THE two-hour long meeting of Union Ministers called by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on Wednesday may have been inconclusive, but it was enough to convince a large section of trade and industry that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) G overnment is keen to push forward the disinvestment process and work on removing road-blocks to economic slowdown.

Senior officials of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) told Business Line that the holding of the meeting shows that the Government is becoming more ``focussed and serious'' about tackling the key issues affecting growth.

Echoing similar views, officials of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) called the meeting a ``positive'' development and felt that such gatherings helped create a ``consensus'' in a democratic set-up and get people into the ``loop''.

``The meeting shows the emphasis that this Government places on implementing the reforms process. No one can disagree that while several key decisions have been taken to accelerate the growth process, little or nothing is being done to implement these de cisions,'' FICCI officials said.

However, whether these issues will be tackled in the Budget or through other legislative measures was something which remains to be seen and is a matter of detail, officials said. ``But at least the Government is sending out a clear message that they are keen and committed to push through not only reforms but also the disinvestment process,'' they said.

CII officials felt that the meeting should not be considered as just yet another gathering of senior leaders. ``The Strategic management committee which has been constituted has taken some very positive steps which can help India translate its dreams int o reality. Yesterday's meeting should be viewed in a similar fashion as an attempt to cut through red tape and move forward.''

Officials of the three apex chambers felt that the meeting also sent out a clear signal that despite differences among the NDA partners on the reforms and disinvestment process, the Government will move as one.

``It is a good omen that they have decided to meet again by when they hope to come up with some concrete ideas for pushing forward the reforms process. This will ensure that the doubting Thomases can be won over, or at least an attempt can be made to con vince them about the inevitability of following the path the Government has embarked on,'' chamber officials said.

They felt that some immediate changes which will help boost economic recovery include passing legislation making movement of goods through the country less problematic, greater involvement of the state governments in the reforms process and providing req uisite tax incentives to make domestic industry more competitive in the world arena.