New Delhi: Rubbishing Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee‘s charge that states were not consulted before introducing FDI in multi-brand retail, Law Minister Salman Khurshid today said the Centre continues to accommodate the concerns of various stakeholders.
“It’s a bit unfair to say that we have not been sensitive to their concerns, (that) we have not tried to reach out to them. We have. Even today we are accommodating concerns,” he said.
Salman Khurshid.
He was responding to a question on the claim of the West Bengal Chief Minister that government had not consulted states on the issue of FDI. Khurshid said the Cabinet decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail was an enabling provision and not binding on states. “If they wish, they can implement it, if they don’t they are free not to,” he said.
He said the government had reached a point where it could not delay the reforms any further. “So we have taken a decision,” he said. To a poser on UPA ally DMK’s decision to support a resolution in Parliament against FDI, Khurshid said the leadership will talk to the allies. “We should be patient… let us reach the stage,” he said.
PTI
