Setback For Economic Reform: Pension Bill Deferred

Union Cabinet has failed to clear the Pension Bill today due to lack of consensus among the allies. Only yesterday the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh assured industrialists that his government will do everything to go ahead with reform plans, but failed to do so in reality.

Dr. Manmohan Singh and his UPA 2 could easily pass the bill with BJP’s help, but chose to defer it. The Pension Bill was introduced for the first time on March 24, 2011 in the Lok Sabha and after strong resistance from various parties it was then referred to the Parliamentary Committee headed by BJP’s Yashwant Sinha. Standing committee now recommended 26% FDI instead of original 49% FDI proposal. However, the government chose to seat on it rather act.

It is the Trinamool Congress (TMC) who objected on the proposed Pension Bill as ‘it was anti-people’. As the Presidential polls around the corner,Sonia Gandhi’s Congress doesn’t want to upset Mamata Banerjee.

It is hard to digest that a strong finance mind like our own prime minister is bounding by political compulsion and not taking any required strong action to give a positive signal to the business community. What are government’s intentions on the economic reform is now under serious question and PM’s leadership credibility is all time low now.

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