Guru Murthy: Who is to blame for the present economic ills faced
by India? Indira Gandhi or her dad? Or both?

Jairam Ramesh: Gurumuthy, the blame
is not with individuals but with policies and mindsets.

Gawainp: Why is the Congress demanding the Orissa cyclone be
declared a national calamity. Does this mean that the Congress is more
concerned about Orrisa than the ruling BJP.

Jairam Ramesh: Orissa is a national
calamity. If it is declared as such, there is greater sense of urgency
and I think the flow of funds for relief and rehabilitation will be
faster. But it is really symbolic.

Sriram Sivasubramaniyan: What will happen if we don’t accept
WTO standards. We are a big market how can the world neglect us? Even
the student community in the US is against the WTO, it’s labour standards
and linking environment with trade. Why is that there is no awareness
even among top leaders in the Congress. I ask this question because
it was your party that initiated the WTO talks during the early nineties.

Jairam Ramesh:
We are already in the WTO and it is in our interest to strengthen
the WTO. If we get out of the WTO, our bargaining position will be considerably
weakened. Do not exaggerate the ‘bigness’ of our market.

K P KAPOOR: What is your view about apple growers in Himachal?

Jairam Ramesh:
We need to have a financialy viable and sustainable insurance scheme
to protect all farmers against natural calamities. This will involve
an element of subsidy as well.

Sarangapani Sista: Dear Mr Ramesh, I read your column every week
in India Today and I find it very articulate and thoughtfully written.
My question is about the party you represent. The economic vision of
both Congress and BJP are not much different. So why does the Congress
make life difficult for the present government in passing important
economic related bills. Is it just because of pure partisan politics
or are there any lofty ideals behind it? An opposition cannot be just
for opposing everything the government does. And one other thing I don’t
understand is the coetiere of Jyoti Basu and all the Leftists.

Jairam Ramesh:
Our opposition is not for the sake of opposition. We have divergent
views within our party and since we are a democratic party, these views
have to be aired, heard and reconciled. This takes time. Also, the job
of creating a consensus is that of the government.

Nirmal Meharia: Dear Sir. What would have been the Congress stand
at the WTO, if you were a minister. What was the main reason for the
failure of WTO talks.

Jairam Ramesh:
The main reason for the failure of the WTO talks was the attitude
and approach of the US government. But this doesn’t mean that negotiations
will not start in January 2000. In agriculture and services, for instance,
negotiations will commence and India stands to gain. Our stand is that
we must always be proactive in the WTO and use it to our advantage.

Rajaji: Why does India insist on keeping labour practices out
of trade issues? Isn’t this an admission of the fact that we can’t handle
the labour issue?

Jairam Ramesh: Our objection is
not against labour standards, but against its linkage with trade. This
is bad economics as well. WTO is not the forum for labour standards.
Next the US will argue that the time zone difference is an unfair competitive
advantage enjoyed by India that enables our software engineers to work
while Americans sleep.

Shub Debgupta: How does a recent PhD, interested in participating
in India’s economic policy decision-making join the Economic Affairs
Department?

Jairam Ramesh: Follow Nike’s motto
– Just Do It.

Yoga: I am a post-graduate economics student in the US and interested
in Indian economy. I would like to come back to India and work as an
economist. In your opinion, what are the basic things that an Indian
economist should specialise in?

Jairam Ramesh: There are no dearth
of issues. Agricultural ecnomics is being starved of new talent. Not
many are getting into social sector economics as well. It is important
to go beyond theory and become more empirical and field oriented. Good
luck.

Kiran: Are reservations not stifling the creativity of India?

Jairam Ramesh: Reservations or affirmative
action are needed to overcome centuries of discrimination. Our society
remains deeply stratified and if we didn’t have reservations, we wouldn’t
have been able to create a middle class amongst Dalits and adivasis.
In addition to reservations, we have to extend quality education to
make equality of opportunity truly meaningful.

Hemant Kumar Mehrotra: Mr Jairam Ramesh. Could you please clarify
why the Congress’, your principal political party’s, stance has been
against the liberalisation of the insurance sector, whereas this liberalisation
process has been started under the banner of the Congress leadership.
I cannot understand why political parties always try to take advantage
of every opportunity regardless of the fact that, India being a signatory
of WTO/GATT Uruguay round, has no other option but to liberalise and
open its trade and services sectors sooner or later.

Jairam Ramesh: We have not been
against the liberalisation of insurance. Some of our members have genuine
fears and doubts and we have to take them along. Ultimately, it has
got to be done. Some people still have misgivings but that is inevitable.

Shubhrendu Khoche: What does Kautilya have to say about the IPR
regime in India? With more Indian companies moving up the IT value chain,
should India consider a more liberal stand now?

Jairam Ramesh:
The IPR regime in India is changing. We will soon be introducing
product patents in addition to process patents. A new patents act is
on the anvil. This will help our own R&D. But we will have to pay special
attention to patent administration. We cannot take years to grant a
patent and the patent office has to be professionalised.

Amar: The Indian textile industry is passing through it’s worst
phase. Sir, what possible steps must be taken to give hope of a better
future.

Jairam Ramesh: You are right. Amidst
all the hype on IT and Pharma, we have forgotten textiles that account
for one third of our exports and one third of employment in industry.
Our world market share in textiles is very low and has declined sharply.
Our policies will have to change whether they relate to fiscal policy,
small scale reservations, import duties etc. A fresh effort at improving
productivity of cotton will have to be mounted.

Dinesh Pugalia: With Mr Maran, has India moved a step ahead or
a step behind? I am quite confused. Hegde was at least clear, now, its
smart statements… One more thing — what would have been your stance
to cement our position in the WTO?

Jairam Ramesh: India has not suffered
at Seattle. What has happened at Seattle is that the agenda for a new
round of trade discussions could not be finalised. But there is an inbuilt
agenda from the earlier Uruguay round on which negotiations are mandated
to commence in January 2000. I think Mr Maran did the right thing. We
could not agree to what the Americans were trying to push. Now the scene
shifts to Geneva. Our position should be that we will negotiate and
discuss everything, except the linkage between trade and labour and
between and environment.

Insomnis: Should issues like child labour be linked to international
trade?

Jairam Ramesh: Child labour is a
blot on our society. It is a matter of deep shame and we have to get
our act together to put these children into school. But, to use trade
sanctions, to do so is bad trade policy and bad economics. Having said
this, I should also say that it is a matter of deep regret that India
does not wake up to these social evils unless there is international
pressure.

Gaurav S: Can India go the same way as China and overcome its
bureaucracy channels to ensure growth?

Jairam Ramesh: There is much that
we can learn from China. Do not forget that over 75% of the foreign
investment that comes into China every year is from overseas Chinese
and this crosses $30 billion. Our NRI friends are not in this league
and their commitment to India is not as durable and enduring as the
NRC’s. China has also expanded its import and export trade which is
today almost 8 times that of India’s. It is this that is creating faster
growth.

Arunav Choudhary: The US has sneaked in the labour standards
through the back door. Do you not thing G-15 as well as NAM could act
as a counter pressure to bail us out of the unfair clause that the US
is trying to force down. What measures do you thing should India initiate
in terms of South-South cooperation to counter it.

Jairam Ramesh: Well they have not
yet sneaked it in. They are trying to and will continue to try. I think
it is important to keep a bilateral dialogue going with the US parallel
to the WTO track. Our interests in agriculture, IT and services converge.
We could also bring CTBT in.

Amar: Sir, in 2004 we will have to compete in the world market
and due to that, especially in the textile city of Surat, industrialist’s
are frightened. The Union Textile minister Rana has also claimed that
the ‘Technology upgradation fund scheme’ is launched for that purpose;
only to modernise industry. What do you think, how much it will help?

Jairam Ramesh: The fund is not going
to be of great help if the underlying policies do not change. We have
strangulated the textile industry with controls and regulations. Also,
there is a mindset problem. Everybody is excited by IT and textiles
is thought of as a sunset industry. This has to change.

Mukesh Vadhyar: With the kind of events which took place at Seattle,
don’t you think India should try to form a kind of temporary bloc of
like-minded third world countries including of course Pakistan, for
blocking introduction of linkage of labour, environment etc. to trade,
misuse of patents, geographical appellations and proper implementation
of existing WTO rules which as of now appears to be implemented unfavourably
against third world countries. Though all third world countries have
a different agenda, there definitely can be a common agenda on which
they can work as a bloc while acting independently on others, where
their views differ. My fear is that the developed countries especially
the US may have failed to push their agenda this time round they will
definitely give a bigger push the next time round using all sorts of
tactics – below the belt tactics – to achieve their ends.

Jairam Ramesh: I think the third
world bloc has lost its relevance. We have to nuance our stand. In some
areas, our interests and American interests’ converge. In others, they
diverge. There is no alternative to painstaking diplomacy. In addition,
we need a comprehensive dialogue with the US so that we can give in
some areas and take in others. These trade offs have to be made.

Mukesh Vadhyar:
I have come to US for work about eight months ago and am flabbergasted
to see that each and every thing which I buy from the super-markets
like Walmart, Kaymart, etc. are made in China. I see that most of the
stuff the Americans sell in their market, is either imported from China
or manufactured there by the US companies. In this respect , I think
that we have already missed the bus as it will be very difficult to
enter these markets which are very well entrenched. Any comments?

Jairam Ramesh: There is one simple
reason for this–small-scale reservation for garments, toys, plastic
goods, consumer goods, etc.

Jairam Ramesh: Thank you very much
and be back with you soon.