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Left parties oppose Wal-Mart entry

Special Correspondent

`It will displace unorganised retailers'

NEW DELHI: The Left parties on Tuesday opposed the Bharti-Wal-Mart tie-up on retail business and urged the Government to intervene immediately and prevent the ``backdoor entry'' of the multinational company into India.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade was not permissible under the existing policy.

Wal-Mart's franchisee agreement with the Bharti Enterprises was an attempt to circumvent the policy regulations and gain a foothold in the Indian market, a Polit Bureau statement said.

Reiterating its opposition to entry of multinational corporations in retail trade, the party said it would cause massive displacement of unorganised retailers across the country. Also it would affect the domestic manufacturers and farmers.

The statement said: ``Expansion of the Wal-Mart chains has caused massive closure of small stores and pauperisation of poor communities even in the United States. In the context of massive unemployment existing within the country, such employment-displacing FDI is the last thing that the Indian economy needs at the moment.

"In fact what is urgently required is a strong regulatory framework for the domestic organised retail sector, which is expanding at a rapid rate.''

The CPI (M) had expressed its opposition to the policy announcement made by the UPA Government, allowing FDI in single brand retail and in warehousing and wholesale Trade.

These steps by the Government were all meant to eventually pave the way for MNCs such as Wal-Mart to make an entry into the retail sector.

The Polit Bureau urged all parties, trade unions and mass organisations opposed to FDI in retail to join hands and launch a nationwide movement against entry of Wal-Mart and other multinational retailers into India.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) said the move would allow MNCs and big business houses to monopolise the retail trade sector and deprive millions of people of their jobs and livelihood.

``The Left parties had given a note to the UPA Government, opposing FDI in retail trade and giving reasons for it. The discussion between the Government and the Left remains inconclusive on this issue. In the meantime, the Government has allowed FDI in the ``single-brand'' retail trade sector,'' a CPI Central Secretariat release said.

The party said the experiences of several countries with Wal-Mart were ``very adverse'' and based on international violations of workers' human rights and the exploitation of women and children as a source of cheap labour.

``This American MNC has been banned in many third world countries and was issued a law suit.''

The CPI(M) also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha with Basudeb Acharia, describing the Wal-Mart-Bharati tie-up as backdoor entry of FDI into retail trade.

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