SPEECH

Congress' Graph Moving Up
Congress President's Address to CPP Central Hall, Parliament House on 24th July 2001

We have an extremely busy month ahead of us. We are meeting against the background of the Agra summit.

After all the hype that was built-up, the summit itself was a major disappointment. Why was it so, when the Government had the support of all Opposition parties except for one. Why was it so? Obviously, the Government was not clear about its objectives. Obviously the Government had no focus. Obviously the Government had not done its home work. This is in great contrast to the preparations which preceeded the India-China successful summit in 1998 under Rajivji's leadership. I do not want to make Agra into a partisan issue. We have all along said that there must be a dialogue between India and Pakistan. But I would be failing in my duty if I did not draw attention to the inept manner in which Agra was handled both before, during and after the summit. Even today, confusion reigns supreme. We are still in the dark on what the government had in mind. Meanwhile the militants and terrorists supported by Pakistan have intensified their attack. Innocent people continue to be killed as we have seen in the last few days in Doda and Amarnath. Our hearts go out to their families.

We are also meeting in the background of agitation in parts of the North-East. What we cannot understand is how insensitive the central government has been in not taking the people of the region affected into confidence on the Naga cease-fire extension issue. Our governments in Assam and Arunachal were also not consulted. The government's claim of prior consultations does not stand scrutiny.

The Agra summit overshadowed the government's continued bungling on economic management. What has happened, I ask, to the Budget that was awarded 9 out of 10 and that was supposed to usher in a new economic era? Instead of growth, we are in the midst of stagnation and a crisis of confidence. And for the second time in three years, over 20 million investors - a large number of them senior citizens, salaried professionals, ex-servicemen and pensioners - have seen their hard-earned savings in UTI's US-64 put in jeopardy because of incompetence and corruption. How can the government sleep over the recommendations of a committee that had been set up in the wake of the first US-64 crisis, how can the Government be so oblivious to the plight of our citizens?

I spoke a little while earlier about economic stagnation. It now transpires that GDP growth has come down to just over 5% in 2000/01. Exports have lost their buoyancy. Tax collections are way, way down and industrial growth has touched rock-bottom. We have been asking for a white paper on disinvestments, for a clear policy on disinvestments. Instead the Government continues to take adhoc decisions on disinvestments of even profit making public sector units. Inspite of all these alarm signals, we find no evidence of concern, we see no sense of urgency to take urgent remedial action.

Drought has been staring us in the face in many parts of the country. I have been repeatedly urging the government to launch a massive food-for-work programme. With over 50 million tonnes of foodstocks, surely such a programme is eminently feasible. That it is desirable should be obvious to any concerned citizen of the country. But our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. While there is drought in some parts of the country, Orissa is reeling yet again under floods. Where is the government's much-talked about national disaster management mechanism?

Similarly, we have been clamouring for the government to devote serious attention to the problems faced by kisans and khet mazdoors across the country and to address the challenges confronted by Indian agriculture in a meaningful manner. The casual manner in which the government reduced the import duty on palm oil reflects what priority the NDA government places on the welfare and well-being of farmers. This is just one example of their insensitivity towards the problems of farmers. The government wants to bail out commercial banks and write-off huge loans taken by captains of industry. Yet, it does not deem it appropriate to take any steps whatsoever to improve the financial health of the cooperative credit system which is so very vital for sustaining rural prosperity.

When a consensus has emerged in the country that the Ayodhya matter should now be settled through the highest court of the land, we are surprised that the government and the groups that support it should want to break that consensus and revive the painful memories of the early 1990s. Meanwhile, the government having committed itself to the primacy of the rule of law seems to have departed from this commitment by refusing to facilitate expeditious disposal of the criminal cases pertaining to the demolition of December 6, 1992.

You all are aware that soon after the news of Tehelka scam broke out, the Congress party started an agitation followed by a campaign to collect signatures for a petition to the President. Six crore Indians have supported and signed the petition. It is unfortunate that even the voice of the people does not stir the conscience of this government. We were given the assurance that the Venkataswamy Commission would submit its report within three months of its constitution. We have heard nothing about it so far. From reports appearing in Press, it seems that the Government is more interested in hounding the people who exposed the scam rather than those who were perpetrating it.

I am glad to say that the Congress's graph is moving up. We have won the assembly elections in Assam and Kerala handsomely and have retained Pondicherry. The Congress has done very well in recent Zilla and Mandal Parishad elections in Andhra Pradesh and urban local body elections in Karnataka. We are now in the process of gearing up to face the electoral challenges in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. We are in Opposition at the Centre but we now have Congress governments in 11 States. Our efforts will be to increase this number.

On 16th June this year, I held a meeting with 11 Congress Chief Ministers where I stressed amongst other things, the importance of setting an example of good governance, efficiency, hard work so that the people can clearly see the difference between the performance of Congress governments and that of non-Congress governments.

Friends, I also made a brief and hectic trip to the USA three weeks ago. We have launched the Indian National Overseas Congress and we hope to strengthen our relationship with the Indian diaspora. I also had an opportunity to speak at various forums and meet with senior government personalities. I met Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condalizza Rice. I also met the Chief of the Editorial Board of New York Times and placed before them the Congress Party's national agenda and its vision. I also spoke on behalf of the country at the UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS demonstrating that on major national issues, bipartisanship is possible. Wherever I went, I was greeted warmly and I could sense a great warmth and goodwill for the Congress.

A heavy legislative agenda beckons. I would expect all of you to participate fully in this Session and fulfil the responsibilities that are expected of us.