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| Sunday, 4 July 2004 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 Growth with equity and social justice Analysing the verdict of the recent Indian elections, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in an Address to the Nation on June 24 that the voters sought "a change in national priorities and a change in the process of governance." This would apply with equal measure to Sri Lanka too. What was sought, according to him is economic growth accompanied by equity and social justice. In Sri Lanka too we have been talking about an open economy with a human face, about equity and about social justice. In fact we have been repeating this mantrum for nearly a decade. The two major political parties have failed the voter. That is why the electorate has given a verdict that not only rejected the UNF but also enhanced JVP representation as a countervailing factor to a repetition of UNF policies by the SLFP. As in India, the verdict is for a radical change in the policies of governance. A pro-poor policy is called for. Any deviation from the mandate would be at the risk of losing popular confidence. There has to be a radical departure from blindly implementing World Bank-IMF prescriptions that have proved to be not only inadequate but also harmful in many developing countries. Experience of Asian Tigers as well as of China shows that they were successful in ameliorating the plight of the masses by following independent policies, particularly in relation to fiscal liberalization and privatization of state assets. Experience in Sri Lanka also shows us that privatization is not a panacea for all ills. The dismal failure of privatised transport services is a case in point. Privatization, if any, has to be on a case-by-case basis after carefully weighing its positive and negative consequences. In many instances what happened in the past was selling valuable state assets for a song to enrich a few cronies of the party in power. Growth could never be quantified or expressed in mere growth of the GDP or any other economic index. The Human Development Index too has to be assessed. As Dr. Manmohan Singh emphasized economic growth is not an end in itself. It is a means to generate employment, banish poverty, hunger and homelessness and improve the living standards of the mass of the people. Nor does it mean simple downsizing of the state or the state retreating from economic activity. The state cannot abdicate its duty to the people, primarily in the areas of health and sanitation, education, and social welfare. Nor can it entrust to the private sector, the necessary development of infrastructure - the roads, railways, irrigation schemes and communications without which no tangible development is possible. In countries like ours where the bulk of the masses lives on agriculture any development that does not uplift the peasantry and the mass of agricultural workers would have no meaning for the majority of the people. Excepting for isolated measures like the Paddy Lands Act, there has been no comprehensive agrarian reform in Sri Lanka since independence. The subsistence farmer has gone from bad to worse. Many have been pauperised and forced to sell their labour as seasonal or migrant workers. In fact, the World Bank and IMF gurus want us to abandon traditional peasant agriculture in favour of commercial farming by big entrepreneurs. It is up to the UPFA government to charter a new course and set its priorities right in fulfilling the voters' mandate in a line more akin to what our neighbour India is attempting at the moment. WTO: Towards consensus The trade negotiating committee of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is meeting in Geneva to workout a framework agreement that provides a new basis for farm and industrial tariffs, services and goods in time for the WTO General Council meeting in Geneva on July 27 and 28. Efforts are being made to bridge the gap between the demands made by the developed and developing countries. At the center of controversy are four issues: investment, competition, government procurement and trade facilitation. It was conflicting opinion on these issues that led to the collapse of the WTO meeting in Cancun last year. The developing nations are demanding that an agreement on trade facilitation, which would guarantee them a level playing field be worked out prior to discussing the other three issues. The WTO G-20 group led by Brazil, India and China are also spearheading the campaign. There seems to be growing consensus over it. This would involve the abolition of agricultural subsidies by the developed countries and a revision of the existing farm and industrial tariffs. According to the WTO Director General, there are indications that agreement is possible to axe some or part of an estimated $300 billion farm subsidies in the United States, the European Union and Japan. If this could be achieved it would be a considerable victory for the developing nations. |
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