“After all the hype and hoopla around FDI in multi-brand retail, the saga turns out to be a damp squib. Very very frustrating!,” said Sohini on Twitter.
The Government's move to put on hold foreign direct investment in the retail sector has not gone down well with a large number of the Internet savvy population, going by postings on social networking sites and blogs.
And the ire towards the Government seems to be further amplified since the move comes a day after the Centre's proposed move to regulate content on social networking Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.
Several netizens were drawing a parallel between the two, back-to-back announcements, terming them as ‘ploys' to deflect attention from major issues such as the implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
“FDI was to divert from Lokpal... Something went wrong…Internet-screening is to divert from FDI.. Something going worse now,” ‘Binary Baba', said on Twitter.
The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukerjee, today said in the Lok Sabha that the decision to bring 51 per cent foreign direct investment in retail has been suspended till a consensus is reached among various stake holders. This postponement comes after opposition parties –Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India – blocked any business from being conducted in Parliament as a protest against the move.
Some of the ruling party's own allies – Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam–also vowed to block legislative work until the decision was suspended.
Former top cop and Jan Lokpal Bill activist Ms Kiran Bedi tweeted, “Will the opposition unite like they did for FDI, for an independently selected and CBI included investigating agency called Lokpal?' The answer seems to have from come from 25-year-old Shantanu, who is active on Facebook.
“You have to understand. Censorship suits the entire political class. FDI does not”, he said.
Interestingly, a poll conducted by social networking service SMS Gupshup showed that 60 per cent of 1,244 respondents are in favour of allowing foreign retailers to come to India. Around 35 per cent respondents were not in favour of the move.
It may be recalled that the proposed move to make preliminary enquiry by Lokpal mandatory before giving cases to CBI has been seen by some officials there as something that will “severely impair” effectiveness of the agency's working.