UPA-II failed on all fronts: CPI(M)

NEW DELHI: CPI(M) today lambasted the UPA-II government for "failing on all fronts" saying it has not fulfilled any promise to bring succour to the people, reeling under price rise, unemployment and corruption, and sought confiscation of illicit funds stashed by Indians abroad.

"In the three years of UPA-II rule, not a single step has been taken on any front to alleviate the burden of the people. The government is in a state of drift," senior party leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.

Referring to problems of price rise and "rapid deterioration" of economy and corruption, he said government has "not fulfilled" any promise, which it had made to fulfil in the first 100 days, including bringing in the women's reservation and food security bills.

"It has failed on all fronts. That is the actual balance sheet of three years of UPA-II," Yechury said.

On the government's white paper on black money, he said the total amount held by Indians in Swiss banks fell from Rs 23,373 crore in 2006 to Rs 9,295 in 2010. "The government seems to have no clue as to where this amount has gone. There is no assessment of Indian deposits in other offshore financial centres," he said.

"Confiscate all undisclosed assets stashed by Indians abroad and detected by the government. That is the only way to deal with black money," he said.

Claiming that much of the illicit fund outflows were "round-tripped into India through FDI via the Mauritius route or via FII investments through Participatory Notes (PNs)," he said CPI(M) has been demanding a ban on PNs and a review of Mauritius taxation agreements but "nothing has been done."