Set up panel to study 1991 reforms: Gowda

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to form an all-party Parliamentary committee to study the impact of the first phase of economic reforms initiated in 1991 on the rural economy.

The committee would randomly visit villages across all states and examine whether the reforms have helped the rural populace to prosper in the last 21 years or worsened their situation, he told reporters.

The prime minister should initiate the process of his second phase of reforms based on the findings of the committee, he added.

The 1991 reforms paved the way for entry of multinational companies in a big way. The government acquired vast extent of farm lands to accommodate the companies, displacing hundreds of families in rural areas, he added.

A large number of them were fraudulent companies which were only interested in making quick money. NICE, promoter of the BMIC project, was a case in point, Gowda alleged.
 
Probe into coalgate

Gowda welcomed the Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) recommendation for a CBI probe into the irregularities in coal block allocation since 1993. The JD(S) will abide by any decision that the Centre would take in this regard, he added.