14 January 2014, 12:20 PM IST
After an uncommon fight on the anti-corruption plank and disrupting the political landscape of the country, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is doing something which is pretty "aam" or common. That's playing to the gallery. With a handful of populist acts of late, which political parties often resort to in their desire to curry favour with voters, the AAP on Monday went a step further to cement its claim of being a regular political outfit by announcing its decision to ban foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail in Delhi, a state in which it recently formed the government.
It has already taken a handful of populist decisions lately which include offering free water to Delhites and effected a huge reduction in the price of power – all leading to a higher subsidy burden for the government. Subsidies don't come from thin air either. The common man should understand that it's taken back through taxes on other goods and services, which they only have to pay.
In reality, the ban on FDI in multi-brand retail is a bogey taken up by a section of politicians seeking to play to a certain vote bank. In this case the vote bank are the rich traders, who have been historically BJP sympathizers and who also contribute generously to the party funds. It's got nothing to do with people on the fringes as it doesn't impact their lives. Earlier, the favourite whipping boy of the anti-foreign investment brigade were the likes of Coca-Cola, Pepsi or for that matter McDonald's and KFC. Every passing generation of politicians find their own such symbols to oppose and the flavour of the season happens to be multi-brand retail right now.
The bogey publicised by some such politicians is that small traders would find their livelihoods crushed by organised retail with deep pockets, if foreign investment is allowed. In reality smaller traders continue to flourish alongside large Indian multi-brand retail outfits run by the likes of Reliance, Goenkas and Birlas, to name a few. The neighbourhood store-owner doesn't or cannot distinguish between a foreign retailer, or one owned by these large Indian conglomerates. So does it really make a difference to them?
That's not all. I have personally asked several small kirana shop owners in Mumbai if they feel threatened by FDI in retail and whether it changes their lives. They have all replied in the negative saying it doesn't change what they do. Meanwhile, they have learnt to adapt by offering services like free doorstep delivery which large retail chains do not offer. Besides, given their large formats and need for large real estate, it's not usually possible for large multi-brand foreign chains to set up shop within city limits in places such as Mumbai and Delhi because property rentals would make them unprofitable. So what's the concern AAP?
Large retail chains also have a policy of direct sourcing, which considerably lowers their overall cost - a practice which could benefit farmers by cutting off profiteering middlemen from the value chain. The only safeguard the government should mandate is that sourcing should be done at minimum support prices, which it routinely announces.
Besides, as has been proven many times in the past any disruption is good for the markets in the long run. The business pie only grows bigger. Moreover, the incumbent players also gain as they would be able to offload stake in their largely unprofitable businesses at a profit to interested foreign players such as Wal-Mart and Tesco.
But that is only if the foreign retailers haven't already been scared away by the rantings of such self-serving political parties. Industry estimates reveal that the retail sector in the Delhi-NCR region alone has the potential to attract FDI worth $ 50 billion in the next five-six years if supported with conducive policies. Sadly, due to this regressive measure, it wont materialise.
Significantly, entry of foreign retailers would create more jobs and create a healthier investment climate, primed to drive growth and that's what AAP should really be bothered about. The biggest beneficiary of that therefore would have been the common man, which the AAP claims to represent. Job creation, which should form the nucleus of all poll promises, would actually deliver a better life for the citizens of the country but sadly no political party is concerned about it.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Aam Aadmi Party: Moving from disruptive ideas to disrupting investment climate
Dengan url
http://osteoporosista.blogspot.com/2014/01/aam-aadmi-party-moving-from-disruptive.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Aam Aadmi Party: Moving from disruptive ideas to disrupting investment climate
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Aam Aadmi Party: Moving from disruptive ideas to disrupting investment climate
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar