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CII is taking PM for granted, feels govt

Aditi Phadnis in New Delhi

The chasm between the Confederation of Indian Industry and the government widened today with government sources charging the apex chamber with 'taking ministers, even the prime minister, for granted.'

The CII was emotional on Tuesday about Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee staying away from one of its most prestigious events.

"We understand he was busy, but of course we are disappointed. We wanted to show off our prime minister to our foreign friends and collaborators," Infosys chief mentor N R Naryana Murthy said.

However, the government was not impressed. "Who do they (the CII) think they are? They told the prime minister on Friday that he had to grant an audience to the president of the World Economic Forum. Surely this is not on," said a top government functionary.

"In the United States, the President and industry may be seen as one entity. That situation does not obtain in India."

But this did not square with what the CII said. Sources at the CII said an officer of the rank of additional secretary in the finance ministry had confirmed two weeks ahead of the summit that Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, and possibly the prime minister, would be able to attend.

By the time the CII got to know the prime minister would not be able to attend, supposedly because "he does not like to attend more than one business function a year (he is supposed to address the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry later this year)," it was too late to ask any other leader to preside.

However, there is misunderstanding on both sides. The CII believes the government is embarrassed because it has nothing to say on politically thorny issues like divestment and labour law reform.

There is also a feeling that it is taking 'revenge' on the CII for the chamber's meetings on Gujarat riots, which upset the political establishment so much that the government sought a written apology from the organisation.

But the government feels that the CII and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry are 'just getting too big for their boots.'

"There should have been consultation as to what the strategy would be and what the discussions would be on. The prime minister cannot just be told to turn up at a function," a top government source said.

But the CII is hurt and puzzled. "There was no intent to display arrogance. This was a good platform to tell the world about India's economic reforms. If you felt Klaus Smadja was out of line in criticising India two years ago, you should have engaged the WEF. Turning your back on it is not the answer," the CII said.

However, that is not happening. Jaswant Singh cried off because of parliamentary and official preoccupations.

But the finance ministry has confirmed in writing that he will attend the WEF's January conference in Davos. This, CII sources say, is heartening because it indicates there is nothing personal.

Of the two senior political leaders who attended the meeting, the speech of one was applauded wholeheartedly by delegates.

He spoke bluntly about everything the CII-WEF had not done to help the reforms in India. Delegates loved Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha's masterly and virtually extempore scenario-building of geopolitical uncertainties.

But Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma said the bureaucracy at the CII was worse than in the Indian government.

He also charged that industry itself was to blame for the delay in labour law reform because all it was interested in was profit margins and not the social consequences of retrenchment.

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