CHENNAI, DEC 20: Former governor of Maharashtra, C Subramaniam criticised the Election Commission for not allowing the announcement of policy on exports. He called upon the president KR Narayanan to intervene and allow policy decisions to be taken-that have no electoral motive.

At a time when the economy is going through a difficult period, preventing the interim government from taking any policy decision not taking into account the real impact, would do no good to the country, he added.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the 25th convention of Tax Executives of Southern Region organised by Hindustan Chamber of Commerce here on saturday.

Subramaniam said it is high time that the constituional provisions are reviewed to identify the factors that are causing political instability and the consequent economic uncertainty. He said the need of the hour was a healthy democratic system which can be achieved only by regulating the parties. The multiciplicity of parties should be contained, he warned.

Justifying need for regulation, former governor said the Labour party in UK, despite being out of power for nearly 20 years, was able to identify competent ministers. This, he said was possible mainly due to their practise of having a shadow cabinet. He stressed the importance of agricultural development in the globalisation efforts. With such a high level productivity, India has huge potential to improve its agricultural output, Subramaniam said

Higher output would mean higher disposable income in rural areas which would translate into higher demand for products. These would make the economy vibrant. Earlier chamber president, BH Kothari called for more transparency in budget making with stability in fiscal policies. y

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.