The Hindu : Avoid controversies over GIM: Antony

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Avoid controversies over GIM: Antony

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Jan. 6. The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, has appealed to all sections to avoid controversies over the Global Investors' Meet (GIM).

``Our effort is to showcase Kerala as an ideal destination for industrial investment. If we don't do this, the result will be further escalation in unemployment and disintegration of the State economy. Let us declare a holiday on controversies for the coming fortnight,'' the Chief Minister told reporters on his arrival from New Delhi here this afternoon.

Mr. Antony hoped that everybody would see the writing on the wall and the changes that had come about all over the country. Everybody wanted change and political parties had arrived at a broad consensus on the need to attract fresh investment. Nobody should, therefore, try to vitiate the atmosphere by raking up controversies, he said while replying indirectly to the Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan's charge that there was little transparency in the ground work being done by the State Government for GIM.

The Chief Minister reiterated his Government's position that the meet would not be the last word on project approval or implementation and repeated his offer to hold another all-party meeting after GIM, which is being held in Kochi on January 18 and 19. Although Karnataka had held a similar investor meet two years ago, project approvals were still on there, he pointed out and added that the Government was ready to have discussions with anyone who has any misgiving about specific projects.

He said it would be sad if the State were to miss the bus again by presenting an image of division before the world. The Government did not see GIM as an internal matter of the UDF alone and had nothing against the UDF, LDF and BJP sharing credit for its achievements equally. On its part, the Government would ensure that all steps relating to GIM were totally transparent. The State had the duty to offer protection to those who show interest in project proposals put up before them. This can be ensured only by telling the world that Kerala has changed, he added.

CM contradicts Ministers

He seemed to contradict the Industries Minister, P.K. Kunhalikkutty, and the Water Resources Minister, T.M. Jacob, when he said that the industrial water supply projects were being shelved for the time being on account of the controversy surrounding them. The two Ministers had claimed at separate news conferences that projects for industrial exploitation of the Periyar and Malampuzha dam waters were not being showcased at the GIM because the groups, which had shown interest had sought three months' time to respond to the conditions put forward by the Government.

Mr. Antony, who had gone to New Delhi to attend the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, said the CWC had resolved to allow alliances with other like-minded parties in the States that go to the polls in February and in November. While alliances were not mandatory, the State units could strike alliances after assessing the situation. There was nothing new in this because the Congress was already part of coalitions in States such as Maharashtra.

Asked whether there was any change in the party's attitude towards the CPI(M) in view of the changed situation at the national level, Mr. Antony said that the question did not arise because among the States going to the polls next month, the CPI(M) came into the picture only in Tripura and there the Congress and CPI(M) were pitted against each other. The CWC decision only meant that the Congress did not intend to insist on not going in for alliances, he explained.

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