Unanimity not possible on FDI in retail: Anand Sharma

NEW DELHI: Hinting at FDI in retail, commerce minister Anand Sharma said, “In a diverse country, you will have to go by consensus. You don’t seek unanimity because unanimity will always elude you. The rights of some of the states to embrace a particular policy should be accepted. It is the prerogative of some others not to accept it and that must be accepted.” The minister said in the clearest-ever indication yet that the government may not prefer to be detained by lack of unanimity on an issue that has the political class vertically split.

When asked specifically about continuing resistance from Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, whose leverage with Congress has enhanced because of the upcoming presidential polls in July, Sharma said that there were other CMs who have written to the Centre in support of the proposal . “It does not have to go back to the Cabinet. Once we are convinced that there is a consensus, we will operationalize it,” said Sharma, who is piloting the FDI proposals.

The statements from the government come a day after prominent Congress members such as Amarinder Singh told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that the Centre needed to take a few nuclear deal-type bold decisions to show its purposefulness.

The anxiety to be seen as governing also shows through the decision to put up the amended pension bill to the Cabinet on Thursday. With Monsoon session at least five six weeks away, there was no need for the government to secure the nod now. However, the go-ahead from the Cabinet for the legislation pending for long, can help the Centre signal to the investor community that it is serious on reforms.

The UPA has decided to go with the recommendation of the standing committee on finance, headed by Yashwant Sinha, in limiting withdrawals from pension accounts, although it has not fully accepted the panel’s recommendation for guaranteeing returns on all schemes. Instead, the proposal seeks to get the regulator ensure that there is at least one scheme which offers a minimum return. By agreeing to some suggestions made by the panel, the Centre is hoping to ensure that BJP, the principal Opposition, sticks to its promise of backing the pension Bill.