At the fourth UPA government-Left coordination committee meeting, the Left parties also raised reviewing of certain provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003 and proposed amendment to the Patents Act, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters after the two-and-half hour meeting.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, CPI general Secretary A B Bardhan among others were present at the meeting.
Chidambaram said during the meeting the Prime Minister had apprised the Left parties about his visit to Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.
The Finance Minister said views were exchanged at the meeting and the government has taken note of it. However, he sidestepped questions on whether there would be a further duty cut on petro products to stem inflation.
At the Editors Conference, Chidambaram had said the government would take further measures, if necessary, and also put the onus on the states to slash sales tax on petroleum products to moderate inflation, now at 7.76 per cent.
The meeting also discussed the roadmap to implement notification of foreign direct investment in Indian private sector banks. Chidambaram had favoured creeping acquisition whereby the foreign banks could pick up 10 per cent annually to stake management control in private sector banks.
On the wage negotiation settlement reached between the Indian Banks Association and the unions on Tuesday, Yechury said Left Parties welcome the agreement and compliment the Centre for playing a "helpful" role.
As per the agreement, bank employees would get a 13.25 per cent hike in their salary aggregating Rs 2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion) after IBA inked the pact with nine unions.
Asked about clarifications sought by the four Left parties on FDI in the telecom sector, Chidambaram said the government has received the note and "the discussion on the issue is complete."
On the proposed amendments to the Patents Act, Yechury said the Left Parties fear prices of drugs might soar once the new product patent regime comes into force from January 2005.
"We have asked the Government to safeguard national interest and peoples' interest," the CPI(M) polit bureau member said. Asked about the pension reforms, Chidambaram said the Cabinet has already decided to set up a separate regulator for the sector and a Bill to this effect would be brought in the coming session of Parliament.
On the issue of FDI in pension, he said let the regulator be in place first and then the government will think about it. This comes amidst reports that government might pitch for 100 per cent FDI in pension sector, which would have limited the number of fund managers to begin with.
