The Hindu : Faulty on several counts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 26, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Faulty on several counts

By K.K. Katyal

NEW DELHI JUNE 25. "Welcome back East India Company!''

That, in effect, is the spirit and import of the Union Cabinet's decision today to open up newspapers and other print media to foreigners — allowing 26 per cent foreign equity participation. The Cabinet obviously rejected the view that the print media could not be placed at par with other industries, that newspapers help shape public opinion, provide political education and equip the electorate to meet the requirements of parliamentary democracy. Foreign lobbyists will now be in a position to promote their vested interests by exerting their influence in sensitive areas — in political and security-related matters.

The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry under Sushma Swaraj had shown a distinct tilt towards foreign participation in the past. As a matter of fact, it was at her instance that the issue came to the fore and was kept alive through equivocal official statements. But because of stiff opposition, it was decided to refer it to the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology. After a detailed, exhaustive examination of the various issues involved, the Committee, with overwhelming majority, rejected foreign participation. It considered all the arguments, which later figured in the notes of dissent. But surprisingly, the Cabinet chose to rely on the minority view and on the arguments that had been rejected by the Committee as a whole.

We are told that the various stipulations — like the bar on foreigners taking the management control — will guarantee against interference in sensitive areas. Now, the newspaper industry is not known for offering rich monetary returns. Why would a foreign player, then, lock his money if the return is not to be handsome and if he is to be barred from controlling management and, hence, from taking policy decisions on political and related issues? "Mere 26 per cent,'' according to the Government and apologists, would not make a difference to the stand to be taken by newspapers which accept foreign equity. Just recall, how modest was the beginning of the East India Company and how it spread its tentacles first in the realm of trade and then to areas connected with the country's governance.

Unfortunately, a section of the newspaper industry itself advocated foreign participation. Some (not all) in this category were those who could not make a good job of their ventures and pinned hopes on foreign capital. They distorted the objections by the successful newspapers which, it was stated, were concerned with preserving the gains of their monopolies.

"Why stick to the 1955 resolution of the Union Cabinet against foreign capital in the print media when the world has changed'' is another argument of theirs. It is forgotten that the issue was thoroughly examined by the Narasimha Rao Government in early 1990s and it decided against any change.

Today's decision could be faulted on several counts — political (most political parties were opposed to foreign presence), procedural (reversal of the Parliamentary Committee's report) and substantive (foreigners are being allowed in the fourth estate).

Will the first three estates — the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary — be opened later?

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