NETA’s NATTER

Relaxed after casting his vote in Guwahati, PM Manmohan Singh was in a mood to talk. Making a departure from his serious, taciturn image, he talked politics and charted out the course of action for his government if it gets a second term. Singh spoke to Bhaskar Roy on issues which have figured high on the poll landscape. Excerpts:
What is your action plan for reviving the economy?
The three stimulus packages announced by my government were intended to take the economy out of the morass. We have already outlined our objective and there is considerable scope to refuel the packages. We made a commitment in our (Congress election) manifesto that within 100 days (of returning to power), we will come out with a programme to strengthen the packages. There is scope to change the atmosphere and improve the investment climate. I have been talking to RBI and there will be an effective programme.
Will the economy be back on the high growth path soon?
The aim is to take the economy to a stage where 9-10% growth is possible. I am not setting too high a target. Only a Congress government can do such things. Yashwant Sinha — when he was finance minister in the Chandra Shekhar government — sent the country’s gold abroad. When we came back to power, we brought the gold back.
Are steps taken by your government to counter terrorism enough? What more will you do to tackle the problem?
Terrorism is an international problem. Our neighbourhood is characterised by a great degree of instability. Terrorists find a congenial atmosphere in that air of instability, and also in the neighbour’s strategy. Terrorism also has several inter-state aspects. We cannot say there are no links between terrorists outside and terrorists within the country. We have to strengthen our security forces and intelligence set-up. The police forces need to be modernised. They have to be given the best weapons. But ultimately it is community policing — that’s the best answer. There is need for a more intensified collaboration between the Centre and the states.
There is a lot of noise about a massive amount of black money stashed away abroad.
Let me say that black money has to be brought back through a well-coordinated programme. But if you are advertising before taking any step, it gives black marketeers an opportunity to stash away, re-arrange their portfolios in a manner that it will make it difficult to unearth black money. I am not denying the existence of such black money abroad. How much in Swiss banks, how much in tax havens, its magnitude — no one knows about it. We will take definite steps within 100 days (of the new government) to recover this black money. We argued within a group of friendly countries to
find a way out. As far as the government of India is concerned, we talked to some other countries for absolute transparency within the banking system, for an international agreement to share information between tax authorities. We will follow it up, for us it is a priority to find out if portfolios have been maintained by dubious players.
Job losses are hitting a large section of people. Do you have plans to tackle the problem?
Once the government comes back to power we will put in place an integrated, well-thought out plan to deal with the problem. As of now, the problem of job losses is confined to the textile and diamond industries. Other areas of the economy have not been affected. Our stimulus package essentially takes care of it. This will set in motion a process of revival.