08-13-2004, 05:59 PM
Will the Marxists only bark?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Because the United Progressive Alliance ministry has just taken a decision that threatens to expose the pretensions of the Marxists -- lowering the interest rate on employee provident funds (EPF).
The interest rate on EPF used to be a healthy 12 per cent. One of the major issues raised by the Left against the National Democratic Alliance was that the Vajpayee ministry had lowered this to 9.5 percent.
Though it made perfect economic sense in an era of falling interest rates everywhere, the move was damned as a betrayal of the working classes. If I remember correctly, the Left Front even made a commitment in its manifesto to restore the rate to 12 per cent.
Once the results of the 14th general election were in, the Left Front realised that it had a heaven-sent opportunity to put pressure on the non-BJP ministry that was sure to materialise.
I believe Comrade Bardhan of the CPI was the first off the mark, issuing a long list of demands. (The CPI, by the way, has only ten MPs in the Lok Sabha.) The first on the list was that the new ministry should not raise the price of cooking gas. The second was that no public sector undertakings should be closed, sold, or privatised in any form whatsoever. And so on and so forth.
The report card on the Manmohan Singh ministry makes very interesting reading given this history. Fuel prices were raised, and I am sure that more hikes are in the pipeline. The Government of India has refused to issue a blanket ban on privatisation; in fact, it has suggested raising the foreign direct investment limit in the crucial sectors of telecommunications, aviation, and insurance. And now, in the unkindest cut of all, the interest rate on <b>EPF has actually been further reduced, to 8.5 percent</b>.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Because the United Progressive Alliance ministry has just taken a decision that threatens to expose the pretensions of the Marxists -- lowering the interest rate on employee provident funds (EPF).
The interest rate on EPF used to be a healthy 12 per cent. One of the major issues raised by the Left against the National Democratic Alliance was that the Vajpayee ministry had lowered this to 9.5 percent.
Though it made perfect economic sense in an era of falling interest rates everywhere, the move was damned as a betrayal of the working classes. If I remember correctly, the Left Front even made a commitment in its manifesto to restore the rate to 12 per cent.
Once the results of the 14th general election were in, the Left Front realised that it had a heaven-sent opportunity to put pressure on the non-BJP ministry that was sure to materialise.
I believe Comrade Bardhan of the CPI was the first off the mark, issuing a long list of demands. (The CPI, by the way, has only ten MPs in the Lok Sabha.) The first on the list was that the new ministry should not raise the price of cooking gas. The second was that no public sector undertakings should be closed, sold, or privatised in any form whatsoever. And so on and so forth.
The report card on the Manmohan Singh ministry makes very interesting reading given this history. Fuel prices were raised, and I am sure that more hikes are in the pipeline. The Government of India has refused to issue a blanket ban on privatisation; in fact, it has suggested raising the foreign direct investment limit in the crucial sectors of telecommunications, aviation, and insurance. And now, in the unkindest cut of all, the interest rate on <b>EPF has actually been further reduced, to 8.5 percent</b>.
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