Advani seeks industry wisdom on growth and equity

New Delhi, June 3 (UNI) Leader of Opposition L K Advani today asked the people to bring to power a clean, efficient and responsive government and said that it was not without reason that the ruling Congress had lost elections in almost all States since the last General Elections. ''We need a good, honest and efficient government. Growth without inclusiveness is meaningless. We need to deploy technology to tackle the problems of poverty and deprivation and improve the quality of the life of the mass of the people,'' Mr Advani said in his address to the 87th AGM of ASSOCHAM.
The BJP stalwart gave the reasons as to why the NDA was opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal and the BJP's opposition to the SEZ policy. Mr Advani clarified that his party was not opposed to acquiring nuclear fuel from America, but to the Hyde Act which would have restricted India's freedom to carry out Pokhran-III. He accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of having made several statements, including some in Parliament, which did not match with the 123 Agreement.
Mr Advani's speech was marked with wit and humour and often his light hearted comments went well with the audience. Outgoing ASSOCHAM President V N Dhoot described Mr Advani as a possible future Prime Minister and a man of vision with immense love for his country.
Going back to history, Mr Advani said the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had opposed India becoming a nuclear weapon state, but several years later, his daughter Indira Gandhi did just the opposite and carried out the Pokhran-I test.He said in 1998 when the BJP government was in power, it conducted the Pokhran-II test in the face of strict opposition from the world. It was for this reason it would want the country to retain its independence to conduct nuclear tests in the future.The former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister said a solution could have been found by appointing a Joint Parliamentary Committee, which was not done. Instead, the government appointed a Committee to which the Left was a party, but all other political parties were kept out. He said had the government heeded the advice of setting up the JPC, perhaps the deal could have been gone through.
Mr Advani said the election after the emergency had brought to the fore the maturity of the Indian electorate. In State after State, the government, which had imposed the emergency, had lost at the hustings. He said a famous BBC correspondent had argued with him that the opposition parties had not the slightest chance of winning these elections, even though they would improve on their performance as a result of sympathy they would get for having served in jail on political grounds. ''The results alarmed me. They were beyond belief. In State after State, especially the Northern States, the ruling party lost miserably. In fact in some States like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Congress did not get even get a single seat. I salute the maturity of the Indian electorate. For those who do not perform have to bow out of power,'' Mr Advani said.
Mr Advani said the BJP was opposed to the SEZ policy in the manner it which it was being implemented. The concept borrowed from China was intended to promote exports.The fashion in which it was pursued in the country had sometimes little to do with export promotion and the proliferation of SEZs raised doubts in the minds of many, he said.In China, just a handful of SEZs have helped leapfrog exports to a phenomenally high level.
Mr Advani said he has been schooled in the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Deen Dayal Upadhaya, who had preached taking care of the last man. He said the present high growth would be a meaningless affair unless it catered to the poor.He said while his party was opposed to the Soviet model of the Communist philosophy. It was equally against blind pursuit of the Western model, where the markets by way of the trickle-down effect would eliminate poverty. In a poor country like India, the State cannot simply wither away, but must also not interfere in its economic functioning. Mr Advani argued that a way of removing poverty, deprivation and hunger would be a deployment of technology on a large scale and for the benefit of the masses.He described the IT as a greatest revolution of the century, even more important than the wheel. He said it was this internet revolution which needs to be replicated at the grass root level to bring about awareness, knowledge and empowerment.
Mr Advani referred to the splendid performance of some BJP-ruled states and in this context cited the example of Madhya Pradesh, which has drastically brought down the Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate. It is for the lack of achievement of the social indicators that India gets ranked poorly on the Human Development Index compiled by the United Nation.
He referred to a conversation with slain former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who explained to him the reasons why India has a vibrant democracy. The two great assets of India were a zealously independent Election Commission and an apolitical Army.
Mr Advani said there was a new sense of confidence and pride in the country. The British had disparaged everything that was Indian. In this regard, he cited the book written by Catherine Mayo 'Mother India,' which was nothing but an endictment of India, Hinduism and all else that was central to the country. ''After reading Catherine's book, I went back and read leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai who instilled a sense of pride in me. Many years later, Will Durant, a well known philosopher, took upon himself the task of rebutting everything that Catherine Mayo had argued about the great potential of India and Indians.''
Mr Advani claimed that the erstwhile Soviet Union was pressurising India to follow their model. An editorial of 'Pravda', a main newspaper of the erstwhile Soviet Union, contended that India was a backward country, full of superstition and one with a colonial past. It can only get rid of these by adopting the Soviet system of planning and development.
Mr Advani said in all humility, he had come to learn from the wisdom of business and industry and other experts. He asked ASSOCHAM to draw out a blue print for growth and development and tackling the issue of equity.