​​Building Consensus is need of the hour: leading MPs

“Consensus is an extension of the process of compromise”, stated Mr V P Singh, Member of Parliament, Bharatiya Janata Party, at the CII AGM. Mr Singh was speaking at a session on “Building Consensus, Building Nation”. He further elucidated his views on the subject by eluding that in order to move forward as a nation, the Indian politicians need to develop consensus in every sphere of public life. He stressed that consensus need not be just between different political parties, but also within a political party. He lamented the fact that one party proposes a reform when in government and opposes the same when in opposition. He ended his remarks by suggesting that the Indian political class must learn from the reform approach of Mexico which overcame crippling political polarization within the country and achieved broad consensus in political decision making.

In his address, Mr D Raja, Member of Parliament (RS), Communist Party of India (CPI) remarked that the Indian political elite needs to be clear on the kind of nation that they would want to build. He stressed that India needs to move forward as a democracy, not an autocracy. According to his views, the Constitution of India has framed a clear road map for nation building which the current political class needs to follow. He said that the framing of the Constitution of India is the best example of a consensus building process which our nation has witnessed.

CIIAGM 2015: Building Consensus, Building India session with Shobana Kamineni, Dinesh Trivedi, Sachin Pilot, Pavan Kumar Varma

In his address, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, Member of Parliament (LS), All India Trinamool Congress said that “Consensus primarily depends on leadership”. While invoking the example of the Mahabharata, Mr Trivedi remarked that the Indian nation cannot move forward on the path of progress unless consensus is developed in Parliament. He concluded by saying that while the Indian political parties may fail to develop consensus in Parliament, but the Indian people have a firm consensus when exercising their power to vote.

Reflecting similar sentiments, Mr Pavan Kumar Varma, Member of Parliament (RS), Janta Dal (United) stated that Corporate India and the Indian Political class need to build a broad consensus for eradicating social ills such as illiteracy, malnutrition and poverty if India is to progress as a nation. He said that consensus is not created in a void, but is contextual. He warned that India cannot move forward on the path of prosperity and development unless there is a broad consensus between India’s corporates and political elite on the need to rid it of all social ills.

Mr Sachin Pilot, President, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee and Senior Leader, Indian National Congress started by stating that the last 25 years have seen several commonalities of views of the Indian political class on several issues. He commended the Indian political elite for developing a broad consensus over the years in several sectors of critical importance such as Defence, Foreign Policy and Internal Security. He stated that the opposition in Parliament is obligated to help the government in power in achieving important national objectives. He further said that in a democracy, the government at the center needs to reach out to the opposition in order to initiate the consensus building process. The opposition, he eluded, should be commended for their role in passing of bills in Parliament and not be labeled as obstructionist when they don’t. He urged the government and the opposition to sit together, deliberate and move forward on several issues of national importance through a process of dialogue.

The session was chaired by Ms Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited.

Government to accord greater importance to Inland Waterways, followed by Railways & Roads – Nitin Gadkari

The Government is developing a multi modal transportation model for the country with greater emphasis on waterways as opposed to the existing dependence on land transport in a bid to optimise logistical costs, a critical input to industry and manufacturing, Road Transport and Shipping Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari said while speaking at the CII National Conference and Annual Session 2015 on Tuesday in the capital.

The Minister further added that the PPP Model was more successful in waterways and it assumed greater significance that it remains largely under-utilised in India. “While in China around 47% of goods & services are moved via water, the corresponding percentage in India is at dismal 3.3%, including coastal shipping and inland water ways,” the Minister said. It would provide a great boost to lowering the overall logistics cost for the industry and contribute in promoting trade. In this context, five waterways have been approved by the Parliament and the objective is to create numerous multimodal hubs that would not only be efficient but also reduce pollution, he said.

Mr Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and
Highways, Shipping addressing the session on Building India: The Infrastructure
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Mr. Gadkari in his remarks acknowledged the problems being faced by the Indian infrastructure sector and assured that the Government is taking steps like stimulating Pension & Insurance funds and promoting low cost funds from abroad with an objective of relieving this strained sector. He also stressed that the Government was committed to reduce the construction cost, by adopting international construction norms, and endorsing new technologies across the transport sector.

For the Roads sector, the Minister shared that his Ministry has taken over 25000 kms of Roads & Highways across the country to be developed on the newly announced hybrid annuity model. While the road construction at present is around 12 Kms per day, the target is to reach 30 Kms per day.

In his address, Mr. Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman – CII National Taskforce on Infrastructure Projects – Monitoring & Advocacy and Chairman – Feedback Infra Private Limited complimented the Government for recognizing the economic multiplier effect of infra on the entire economy. He cited some of the specific importance of off – budget funding like constituting National Infra Investment Fund with a sum of INR 20,000 crores; exploring medium & long term funding options; providing greater thrust for Institutional rejuvenation by stressing upon accountability & transparency and taking steps like bringing the entire transport sector under one ministry and corporatization of major ports; ensuring transparent process for bidding; broadening the infra base by giving greater importance to sectors like railways, inland waterway, coastal shipping, mass housing and , cleaning of rivers; taking steps to re-cast the PPP  and balancing the risk allocation, renegotiation, land acquisition & environment clearance.

At the same time, he also requested the private sector to abstain from practices like over bidding and gold plating et al. Going ahead, Mr. Chatterjee suggested creation of Land bank corporations and a Public Purpose Validation Commission for smooth land acquisition process; creation of a National Electricity Distribution Company and PPP Renegotiation Commission to provide greater impetus to infrastructure sector in the country.

Mr. Prashant Ruia, CEO, Essar Group, in his remarks, emphasized upon the need for Innovative financing models and supporting regulatory environment to create enabling framework and revive investments in the infrastructure sector.