The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Centre urged to raise voice at WTO

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 09, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Centre urged to raise voice at WTO

Staff Reporter

The economy of the country should be moulded according to the need of the land and technology

NELLORE: The Member of Parliament, Rudra Narayan Pani, has urged the Central Government to raise its voice in the forum of World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Mr. Pani, who was the chief guest at the district-level seminar organised by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on `WTO--Its Impact on Agriculture, Labour and Common Man', at the Town Hall here on Sunday, recalled the opposition of the BMS to the WTO and how the BMS founder, Dattopant Thengadi's observation that the WTO objectives should be amended as per India's wish or the country leave the forum. He said heavens would not fall if India decided to leave the WTO.

He was of the view that the economy of the country should be moulded according to the need of land and technology. Mr. Pani, regretted the "vote bank politics" indulged in by some political parties in respect of population control and remarked that India had overtaken even China on the population front.

Biggest market

The BMS functionary pointed out that India should not forget that its consumer market was the biggest in the world and several countries vie for a share.

He at the same time deprecated the tendency of solely depending on the dictates of World Bank.

He pointed out as to how the spate of farmer suicides had been continuing even in the Congress regime in Andhra Pradesh.

The BMS functionary from Bangalore, R. Satyanarayana Raju, alleged that the WTO was set up with an ulterior motive of usurping the functions of Parliaments and said that India signing the WTO accord was a big mistake.

He made it clear that the BMS was not against foreign goods/countries but the need of the hour was a decentralised economic system with village as a unit.

No consolidation

The Chairman, Agriculture Cost and Price Commission, New Delhi, T. Haque, expressed concern over lack of proper consolidation among agriculturists of the country.

He pointed out that the WTO came into formation due to the designs of some countries that wanted to keep their control on the hitherto colonial entities.

Also the first meetings of WTO were not taken seriously, thereby resulting in losses to India.

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