Congress for addressing economic concerns of Left

The Congress has sought to reassure the Left parties as well as its other allies that the United Progressive Alliance government would address their concerns on economic issues. It also asked the government to set up a special fund to correct regional imbalances immediately.

In the draft resolution on economic affairs, introduced this afternoon at the subjects committee of the 82nd Congress plenary, the party patted the UPA government for "reversing the policy of indiscriminate and non-transparent privatisation of the public sector put in place by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government."

The party reiterated its position that under no circumstances, the Navaratna companies would be privatised. They would be strengthened in every way so that they become globally competitive. "The Congress is in agreement with the view that disinvestments in other cases should be undertaken selectively, on a case-by-case basis, so as to raise resources for the National Investment Fund that has been set up by the government to augment resources for social sector programmes," the draft noted.

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In this regard, the party urged the UPA government to ensure that under no circumstances the fund from the public sector should be used for meeting the revenue expenditure. Viable public sector companies should be revived and, overall, the public sector must get the necessary managerial and commercial autonomy to function in a professional manner.

In a bid to mollify its allies such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which is spearheading the movement for a separate Telangana state, the Congress underscored the importance of addressing developmental imbalances and disparities both within state and among states.

Taking note of the initiatives taken by the UPA government to benefit the poorer and backward regions of the country, the party called upon the government "to evolve legislative, administrative and fiscal measures to ensure removal of inadequacies in the human and physical development of these regions and facilitate to bring inclusive development and the mainstreaming of the vulnerable areas and communities."

The Congress also urged the government to look at the economic dimensions of social conflicts more carefully and take appropriate measures to deal with them.

"Undoubtedly, conflict and violence must be combated through effective law-and-order machinery but in many cases, underlying socio-economic causes must also be addressed meaningfully," the draft resolution demanded.