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Middle path Revisited - The Times of India

Editorial ()
6 June 1996

Title : Middle Path Revisited
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Times of India
Date : June 6, 1996

The document, "A Common Approach to Major Policy Matters
and a Minimum Programme," jointly authored by the
constituents of the United Front, is remarkable not so
much for its contents as for its authorship. Indeed, the
text of the UF's joint manifesto reads a lot like the
manifestos of the two major political formations, the
Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, admittedly with
important differences on unimportant issues. It is
reassuring to see the vast common ground between all the
national and regional parties on issues of central
concern to the people of India. Yet, despite this common
ground, the 'Middle Path' as Mr Narasimha Rao once
christened it, and despite attempts by many including
this newspaper to encourage all political parties to
agree to a consensual socioeconomic agenda, such a
consensus has been eluding the polity so far, Several
sessions of Parliament have been wasted and little
concrete legislative actiion was made possible in the
fractious tenth Lok Sabha. The heat and dust of the
electoral battle have settled and what we have today is
the coming together of three unlikely compatriots of the
United Front, the business friendly Mr P. Chidambaram,
the Swatantrite-tumed-social democrat, Mr Jaipal Reddy,
and the Marxist-Leninist, Mr Sitaram Yechury. Among them
they have produced a consensual document within a
fortnight with which no one who occupies the politico-
economic middle ground can disagree. Extremists on the
ideological Right and Left will readily tear the document
to shreds, given the range of views expressed in it. If
energies can be diverted from meaningless and endless
debate to concrete action, however, the UF's agenda can
serve the nation well.

The Approach paper commits the Deve Gowda government to
policies aimed at achieving high economic growth, seven
per cent per annum, with social and distributive justice.
There is a clear commitment to honour all obligations of
previous governments and to be a willing and active
member of international organisations, including the
World Trade Organisation, adhering to multilateral
obligations. Economic liberalisation will proceed apace
if in a more transparent manner and mindful of domestic
and national concerns. There is an explicit recognition
that India can absorb at least $10 billion foreign direct
investment a year and the opening up of the insurance
sector to foreign investment symbolises the UF's
commitment to external liberalisation. Surprisingly,
there is also a firm declaration of fiscal prudence: a
promise to reduce the fiscal deficit to below four per
cent of the national income with a caveat that this will
not be "at the cost of development or investment".
Finance Minister Chidambaram can deliver on this promise
only if he mobilises additional revenues and reduces
wasteful expenditure, both of which he must, A key area
of concern, as it must be, is the public sector. The UF
has committed itself to part-privatisation, part-
divestment and part-rejuvenation of public-sector
enterprises. There should be immediate action on these

commitments as well as in strengthening federalism in
governance. On both fronts the Narasimha Rao government
had done very little and the UF must show that it is
willing to put its money where its mouth is. Few will
quarrel with the UF's social and foreign policy vision
and most will welcome the emphasis on transparent and
clean governance. The proof of the pudding, conunon
sense tells us, is in the eating. The menu is tempting,
hopefully service will be quick.


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