Newly elected CII president N Kumar (left) at his maiden press conference in Calcutta on Wednesday.

CALCUTTA, May 14: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is preparing a detailed position paper on the law and order situation in different parts of the country with a special focus on its impact on various industries.

``It has become a matter of great concern, particularly in the Northern region. A few weeks ago, one of our past presidents was stabbed when coming back from New Delhi airport one night,'' said N Kumar, CII's newly elected president.

The CII chief told reporters here on Wednesday that the document would be ready in about two months, after which CII representatives would work with the Union Home Ministry on what needs to be done about it.

He also said the CII branches in different states would try to anticipate outbreaks of violence and even take precautionary steps wherever possible. In the context of the northeastern states, where CII has taken a special initiative and opened an office in Guwahati, Kumar said he did not think the political disturbances would be a major obstacle to their activities.

The CII has also set up separate task forces on a whole range of subjects like infrastructure, telecommunications, ports, roads and other aspects of development, on which it would like to collaborate with government.

The CII also urged the government to adopt Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) ``fast and without retrospective effect''.

Kumar said, ``FEMA should come fast as all other laws, like the Companies Act, were undergoing changes.

It should , however, not come with retrospective effect,'' he added. Some corporate analysts felt that the CII stand on FEMA might send shock waves to many of its members.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.