INDIA’S PARLIAMENT was adjourned for the third successive day yesterday following a stand-off between Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh’s government and the opposition, who are demanding the retraction of a reform permitting foreign supermarket giants to enter the country’s $450 billion (€337 billion) retail trade.
Government MPs said the impasse could threaten the rest of parliament’s short winter session. This could affect the passage of major legislation to appoint an anti-corruption ombudsman, which has been pending for more than four decades, as well as a law on food subsidies for the poor.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has threatened to stall parliament indefinitely if the government does not reverse last week’s decision permitting global retail chains such as Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour to own up to 51 per cent of retail ventures.
The reform is also opposed by some of Mr Singh’s coalition allies who, like the opposition, believe the supermarket giants would generate widespread unemployment and spawn food insecurity, leading to exploitation and “colonisation” by the multinationals.
The issue feeds into the deepseated nationalism of Indian politicians and the fear that millions of small shopkeepers would disappear, unable to compete against the supermarket chains.
Many provincial governments have said they will not permit the entry of foreign retail chains into their states, even threatening violence.
“The government has implemented the policy of foreign, direct investment in retail after frantic lobbying by US and other [western] companies,” said senior BJP figure Murli Manohar Joshi. “We are totally opposed to this.”
Mr Singh’s administration, however, believes the chains will create millions of jobs, kickstart a sluggish economy, reduce wastage, bring technology to farmers and expand badly needed rural infrastructure.