The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said it would oppose the UPA government’s move to allow “big capital” foreign direct investment (FDI) multi-brand stores across cities and towns in the country as they would destroy the current supply chain and render lakhs of people engaged in the sector unemployed.
The party threatened to launch country-wide agitation if the Union government did not drop the move.
“If the FDI multi-brand retail shops were allowed in India, foreign companies like Wal-Mart and Carrefour will sell essential commodities like vegetables and food grain.
“This will destroy our traditional supply chain. Lakhs of farmers, vegetable growers, craftsmen and artisans would lose their jobs,” senior BJP leader and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee chairperson Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters here at a press conference.
Maintaining that the decision to allow FDI multi-brand stores was against the interests of the country, Mr Joshi said it would completely disrupt the supply chain in India as small businessmen and entrepreneurs “as they cannot withstand the unhealthy competition and maneuvering by the foreign players.”
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Chandy in delhi, will meet 12 union ministers
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, Nov. 20
Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy arrived here on Sunday evening for a three-day visit. He has a host of meetings lined up with as many as 12 Union ministers to discuss important issues pertaining to the development of the state.
The Kochi Metro and Vizhinjam Port project, two dream projects of the state, will get prominence during his visit.
Among the slew of other demands and proposals that the chief minister would take up during his meetings are a Delhi-Mumbai model industrial corridor between Kochi and Coimbatore, a electronic hub in Kochi and restoring of khadi rebate.
Mr Chandy will request the Union ministry of health and family welfare for a comprehensive package for endosulfan victims in the state. He will also submit proposals to set up a paramedical institute in Kozhikode and to upgrade the Malabar Cancer Centre in Kannur as a Regional Cancer Centre.
The chief minister will also seek assistance from the Centre for solar fencing to prevent wild animals from entering tribal settlements and for setting up more anganwadis in the state.
Mr Chandy will demand for more air service for the state. On Monday, Mr Chandy will meet Union ministers Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, V. Kishore Chandra Deo and Virbhadra Singh.