Hon.
Chairman Sir, the subject matter of
this Bill is of grave importance to our national security and to the
development of our country. Even though we are only the second country
in the whole world to have more than a billion population, we are still a
developing country. We still have a constraint on resources. Very recently,
a few months ago, when the U.S. President was here, he announced that
India is no longer a developing country and it is a developed country. While
such sentiments may be a matter of pride for us, the fact remains that we
are somewhere in between. We are not a fully developed country because
we have hundreds of millions of our citizens who are deprived of basic
necessities. We do have to take pride in that aspect of our country which is140 world-class, which is admired by the rest
of the world. That part of our economy can compete with any other160 country in the world. But the
fact remains that we have hundreds of millions of Indians who are
deprived of basic necessities. People from other countries, who may have
originally come to our country legally but have stayed on illegally, have an insidious
effect on our nation’s development because our huge population strains the
resources. Just now, before I introduced my Bill, this House has had a very
deep and long discussion on the matter of child labour and the various
facilities that are being provided, and in the conclusion, we were just
coming to the point about how much more still needs to be done. When we
talk about how much more needs to be done for the children280 of India and for other deprived citizens
of India, we have to give priority to citizens of India. We do have a
big heart for people who are suffering in other countries. Even though we are
still a developing country,320
even though we are transitioning into a country which can take pride in
becoming a developed country, we have contributed to other countries and to the
citizens of other countries who have gone through difficulties. I remember, a
few years ago, when the Tsunami hit South East Asia, when countries in this
part of the world got hit very badly, India was one of the first countries to
respond, to contribute financially and to contribute other resources to help
out unfortunate citizens of the affected countries. Only a couple of years
ago, when there was a major earthquake in Pakistan420, India was one of the first to offer
substantial amount of money and other help to citizens of Pakistan who were
affected by this natural disaster. We have done more than that. Six or
seven years ago, when a hurricane devastated the southern part of the United
States, which is the most developed country in the world, India was one480 of the first countries to offer help to
the citizens of the United States. We have compassion for people of the world
wherever they are but when it comes to running our own country, when it comes
to giving priority to the citizens of our own country, we sometimes
forget that we must give priority to the citizens of India over those
who are in this country illegally. Sir, the problem of illegal
immigration is widespread. Official and semi-official560 estimates state that there are at
least 20 million illegal immigrants in this country.
Madam,
it is a very precise statement. The only point that is to be picked up is that
the Government has not taken any decision in this regard. That means
the Government has not taken a decision now but it may take a decision in the
future. The question of Foreign Direct Investment in retail trade is
open. I rise to raise a serious concern of640
about eight crore small businessmen, peddlers, pavement sellers in this
country, who are mostly self-employed and who are living by the proceeds of
sale of their goods in the open market. They are all very consumer-friendly.
While there are a number of issues on the national agenda, which requires
urgent attention of the Government, why has the Government thought it700 so important to pick it up for immediate
discussion in the country? What is the hurry? A Discussion Paper has
been circulated, opinions have been sought, an Inter-Ministerial Committee has
been set up and it has also given its Report. But as far as I know,
two-thirds of the respondents have given their opinion in the negative,
which means that most of the people who are asked to give the opinion
have said that there should not be any Foreign Direct Investment in retail
sector. Secondly, most of those, who concurred with the Foreign Direct
Investment in retail sector, are800
having supply chains, which means they are interested parties, and if Foreign
Direct Investment is brought in, they will get necessary support from Foreign
Direct Investment. Unorganized retail trade players in the whole country,
beginning from hawkers to medium-size840
shops to district-level industry, have refused to buy the idea that if foreign
players are allowed to come in, they will invest in the infrastructure. Nobody
believes that Wal-Mart will be interested in setting up infrastructure in the
country to help the chain of supply.
There
are a number of apprehensions that I wish to share with the hon. Minister so
that there can be other side of the views also, and the Government may come to
an objective decision on this issue. I am not going to the larger issue of
liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment, on which there are differences. I
am simply raising the issue whether Foreign Direct Investment should be brought
in the retail sector960 in
order to strengthen the supply chain of the country. It is being said that
farmers will be benefited. Let980
me mention here that a recent survey of American market and the European market
has said that the giants never give their benefit to the farmers. The second point
is that there might be a decline in the price of food products. The reality is
just the reverse. The big players never give up their profit. Thirdly, there is
a belief that they can create more jobs. That is also not true. They are all
capital-intensive and since they are all capital-intensive, it is not likely
that jobs would increase. Fourthly, the apprehension is that there will be an
unequal competition. How a small trader would compete with the Wal-Mart?
Liberalization always talks about level-playing ground and that was the
philosophy propounded. Now, it seems that there is going to be unequal
competition. Some big Indian players were allowed to enter1120 retail trade, instead of the foreign
players. But that has not improved the situation. There is no reduction in the
wastage and farmers have not been benefited. They believe that the gap between
the income of farmers and the income of retail would be narrowed down. That is
not correct. Everybody knows that farmers in the country are suffering
seriously from under-payment. Will American multinational companies do for
India what Indian multinational companies have not been able to do for India?
Are they coming for philanthropy?
The
Prime Minister has said that there is a need to strengthen the supply chain and
I agree with that. But I believe that in order to strengthen the supply chain,
it is not necessary to invite the foreign multinationals, but to strengthen the
Indian small traders. They do not get the finance. You should1260 give easy credit, marketing facilities
and road transport to small traders. In order to strengthen the supply chain
and to1280 tame inflation, you
need to do that. I agree with what the Prime Minister says and what the
Government says. But what should be done for that? It is not to invite the Wal-Mart,
but to strengthen the economic strength of the Indian small traders, which has
not been done. The fate of eight crore people and their employees is in serious
jeopardy. I do not impute any motives to the move of the Government to invite
the Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector. But what is the fact? The
fact is that the total turnover in the retail trade was Rs.12 lakh crore
earlier, but now it is Rs.19 lakh crore. Indian market happens to be even
larger1400 than China. China
is not that open, but India is open. I welcome the openness. India is the
largest unexplored consumer market in the world. That is why, there is an eye
on the retail trade by the Foreign Direct1440
Investment players because they are in trouble in Europe. There is economic
stagnation. That is why, their lobbyists in India are lobbying seriously to get
Foreign Direct Investment in retail trade cleared by the Government. It seems
that the discussion that has been initiated by the Government is pre-set. I
plead for caution with the Government. The key panel which was set up has not
yet recommended the induction of Foreign Direct Investment in the retail trade.
Most of the players are against it. I plead with the Government not to take a
hasty decision, not to take into account the business interests of the foreign
multinationals in this country. We have to protect the national interest. Not
only that, the interests of small traders are also to be protected in the
situation of mounting unemployment. We should not seal the fate of the
self-employed traders. 1586
