Patna: Vowing to oppose the move to allow
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and ease
norms in single-brand retail, BJP said such a move would have
`direct impact on retail sector`.
"The UPA government`s move to allow FDI in
multi-brand retail and easing norms in single brand retail
will have direct impact on retail in India... BJP will oppose
it tooth and nail," party`s national spokesperson Ravishankar
Prasad told reporters here.
Prasad said the decision was not in the "interest of
country, the trader or the farmer."
"We are happy that the NDA-ruled states have opposed
it and there are even opposition from the allies in the UPA
government," he said.
"The retail sector in India is the largest employment
sector...The FDI will deal a blow to the domestic
manufacturing sector," Prasad said adding BJP would strongly
oppose it in parliament.
He said the vegetable, fruit vendors, grocery shops,
cart pullers and other vendors on streets would be hard hit by
this policy.
"The government should leave this policy. What is the
pressure on it? Why it is bringing problems of Europe and US
into the country?," Prasad wondered.
The foreign companies had an eye on domestic retail
trade, the biggest employer after agriculture and a large
number of jobs were being created in the unorganised and
organised sectors, he said.
"The government decision will, thereby, lead to massive
unemployment," Prasad said.
PTI
