Friends abundant to push for reforms as Mamata exit ensured!Phone was tapped, says Mamata; not true, says centre.India implements FDI rules in multi-brand retail!

Political ritual performed!India implements FDI rules in multi-brand retail! Yet another worthless Bandh. Friends abundant to push for reforms as Mamata exit ensured!Phone was tapped, says Mamata; not true, says centre.India implements FDI rules in multi-brand retail!

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Palash Biswas

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Political ritual performed!

India implements FDI rules in multi-brand retail!

PM to talk about FDI reforms on Friday! Retail FDI reforms will come into affect from today. India formally opened its supermarket sector to foreign chains and eased foreign investment rules in airlines and broadcasters, a government statement said on Thursday, implementing a spate of reforms unveiled late last week aimed at reviving growth and staving off a credit rating downgrade.However, the ruling coalition's push to implement foreign direct investment in the supermarket sector and increase diesel prices to pare a bloated subsidy bill faces stiff political resistance.Late last year the government was forced to backtrack on a similar move to open its supermarket sector.

Government's move indicates that its going ahead with reforms. NCP leader and Union minister Sharad Pawar, in an interview with NDTV said that Mamata Banerjee was consulted on all issues. He said hard economic decisions were required.

Mulayam Singh Yadav says his party's support to UPA is to keep communal forces at bay, but it will not tolerate price rise.Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and AB Bardhan shared the dais with BJP's Nitin Gadkari and Murli Manohar Joshi at a demonstration against FDI in retail and hike in diesel prices.Mulayam Singh Yadav warns the UPA government saying, "Will announce alternative if government does not rollback prices."

In a rare show of unity, leaders of the Communist parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came together to denounce the government's decision to hike diesel prices and allow foreign direct investments (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade.It may not be sustained any way as the left may turn to be saviour for the corporate government with ideological turnarownd that it has to stop the communal Hindu nationalist to get the helms.As Mamata, the main protagonist in the resistance epic drama, contradicted herself opposing the bandh and later supported the issue and emphasised , since the bandh had been complete, Reforms must be rolled back.Moreover,UPA allies protest meant only as performance of 'political ritual' to woo respective vote bank.It is quite amusing that the nationwide 'bandh' today which saw protests against the UPA government's economic policies; had some surprising participants - UPA allies joined in the protests across the country.The Marxist stance is no different from the UPA allies.Thus,India witnessed yet another worthless Bandh as friends seem to be abundant to push for reforms as Mamata exit ensured!Industry endorsed the idea. Media promoted. Politicians just wait to readjust their position in the powergame. The bandh has been an exercise of the power game, nothing else.No respite for the ninety nine percent excluded, excommunicated, subjected to ethnic cleansing. The day-long bandh called by Left parties and NDA on Thursday, demanding a rollback of the UPA government's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, hike in diesel prices and a cap on subsidised cooking gas cylinders has drawn mixed response.  Large parts of India where the Congress is not in power were hit today by a strike or bandh against the government's recent decisions to increase diesel prices, and allow foreign direct investment or FDI in multi-brand retail.After Mamata Banerjee announced her withdrawal of support so eloquently to the alliance two nights ago and just a day before Trinamool Congress ministers submit their resignations to PM to make it official, government today dismissed questions over its stability and said it was not averse to acquiring "new friends."Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which has 19 members in the Lok Sabha, has announced its decision to quit the UPA over diesel price hike, FDI in multi-brand retail and a cap on subsidised LPG cylinders.Trinamool Congress has said its representatives in the Union Council of Ministers would resign tomorrow and meet President Pranab Mukherjee to hand over a letter withdrawing support to the UPA. Meanwhile, West Bengal's Congress ministers stayed away from the state Cabinet meeting Wednesday.

The Sensex today dropped by 147 points, its biggest fall in two weeks, as investors adopted a cautious stance amid political uncertainty and weak global stock market trends.

"We had enough friends yesterday, we have enough friends today. So, I don't think why you should doubt our stability," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here.

Asked whether the government would look for new allies, he said, "If we can acquire new friends, why would we not?"

Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party Leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhay said today that there was no scope of the party budging from its stand of its ministers quitting and the party withdrawing support to UPA government on its big ticket reforms.

"There is no scope or question of further negotiation at any stage or level. Our stand is an uncompromising one. There is no question of any adjustment," Bandyopadhay told PTI.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee drags President Pranab Mukherjee into FDI in retail trade row by posting a statement he made as finance minister on her Facebook page.

After pulling out of the UPA government over differences on the Centre's recent decision to hike diesel prices and allow Foreign Direct Investment in retail, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today hinted that the central government was tapping her phones.NDTV reports.

"If you have the central government in your hand you can get the phones tapped. It has happened with me before. My number had three copies. When I would go to Nandigram or Midnapore, I could not use my number as it was being used in Kolkata," said Banerjee in Kolkata.She said that she had filed police complaints then against the misuse of her phone.

"I have been in the central government and I am aware about all these methods. There is no need to make me open my mouth," added Banerjee.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has, however, denied this, saying Mamata Banerjee's phone was 'never' tapped.

Meanwhile,Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Left leaders Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan today courted arrest in New Delhi during the nation-wide bandh against FDI in retail, LPG cylinder cap, and diesel price hike.However, Mulayam Singh Yadav snubbed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today by expressing his unwillingness to create a common cause with the saffron brigade. But it does not mean that any third front is just shaping in.After holding a joint demonstration at Jantar Mantar, the leaders of SP, four Left parties, JD(S), TDP and BJD marched to Parliament Street Police Station along with supporters and courted arrest.Traders' body CAIT has also joined the Opposition-sponsored bandh but mainly to protest FDI in multi-brand retail. According to sources, about 25,000 trade associations representing five crore traders, hawkers, labourers and farmers will participate in the bandh throughout the country.  

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had yesterday asked the Left not to go ahead with the strike.Banerjee had said, "West Bengal would be further affected if bandhs are held. The previous Left Front government has crippled the economy. Going by the GDP rate, I can tell you that the state loses Rs 1737 crore on a bandh day. Taken together, the loss is around Rs 2000 crores."She said that three years back her party had decided against calling bandhs.

Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee said at the state secretariat in Kolkata on Thursday that six of her ministers will tender their resignation by 3 pm on Friday. She said they had sought an appointment with President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday to inform the latter about their formal withdrawal of support from the UPA government. The UPA government will be reduced into a minority once the Trinamool formally pulls out.

Banerjee announced on Tuesday that her party would pull out from the UPA government after the Congress-led alliance at the Centre raised prices of disel, decided to cap the number of subsidised LPG cyliners and allow FDI in multi-brand retail and other sectors.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday cited a statement by former Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on December seven, 2011, alleging that the Centre had deviated from its own statement.

"For the knowledge of general public and common people, I am posting the statement given by the Ex-Union Finance Minister on 7th December, 2011 in Lok Sabha regarding the decision to permit FDI in retail," Banerjee said in a post on her Facebook page.

"Ex-Union Finance Minister was that time also the Hon'ble Leader of the Lok Sabha. Now tell us who has deviated from this statement of the Central Government?" she asked.

The Trinamool Congress supremo quoted from the House proceedings to say that the then finance minister stated "...I would just like to make a small statement. Madam Speaker, the decision to permit 51 per cent FDI in multi brand retail trade is suspended till a consensus is developed through consultation amongst various stakeholders.

"I convened a meeting of Leaders of all political parties this morning. Earlier also, I had a meeting with them to discuss on how to resolve this impasse due to which Parliament was not functioning properly.

"I am glad that all the Leaders have agreed to this formulation but they wanted to have some clarifications. I am seeking your permission to provide that clarification that stakeholders include the Chief Ministers of the State Governments and political parties because without the involvement of the State Chief Ministers, this can never be implemented.

"Therefore, the Government will take a decision after a consensus is developed through the process of consultations amongst all stakeholders."

An NDTV report, however, said the senior Trinamool leader and a central minister Saugata Roy might have opened a way of reconciliation between Mamata Banerjee and the Congress-led government, which was reduced into a working minority after Trinamool's pull out. Roy said if the Centre made some considerations on demands placed by the Trinamool, the latter could also reconsider the situation. He said the government, however, did not make any positive movement on this.

Trinamool sources saud there was a considerable difference in the party over the pull-out issue. While some ministers said that the party could have protested by asking its ministers to resign from the government and not pull out, an MP said they could protest on the streets in Delhi against the central govrnment's decision. Some said giving up the railway ministry would be unwise, particularly after the fact that several projects had been announced in the state budget. But it is believed that Banerjee had made up her mind of pulling out of the UPA government.

Mamata Banerjee also slammed the Left Front for calling the strike. She said she was happy that government employees attended the work in a large number despite the strike. "It is good to see the resurgent work culture in this state," she said.

Banerjee hit out at the UPA government over its policies, saying it was anti-poor. She said her party opposed the UPA's decision but did not support strike, either. The CM said the state's economy suffered seriously because of strikes in the past and added that her government will bring in tough law to curb disruption of transport services during strike.

Banerjee also accused the central government of trying to tap her phone. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, however, denied Mamata's claims.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday's nation-wide strike has caused a huge damage to the Indian economy and the common people.

"In a democracy you have the right to protest against the government's policies. But it's rather ironic that the form of protests you are doing will cause great economic losses," Chidambaram told reporters here, referring to the strike supported by a broad spectrum of political parties.

Chidambaram said the common people, especially daily wage earners, were hit hard by the strike and the opposition to the economic policies should not take such a form that hits the economic activities.

"Wage earners can't earn their wages...in some factories wages have to be paid but there is no production," the finance minister said.

he nation-wide strike against the government decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and hike diesel prices is estimated to have caused losses to the tune of Rs12,500 crore ($2.25 billion) to the Indian economy, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Thursday.

"Today's bandh (strike) has been disruptive for business and trade in many parts of the country. While an exact loss for the entire economy is not known, it can be estimated that almost Rs12,500 crore has been the country's loss in terms of disruptions in production and trade," the CII said.

Stating that the government should not buckle under political pressure to roll back the recent reform measures, the industry association said, "Good economics seldom makes for good politics and therefore, it is important to communicate to the masses the merit and necessity of the recently announced reform measures."

Adi Godrej, president, CII, expressed hope that parties across the political spectrum would work to ensure that the much needed economic reforms were carried out in the country. "It is not often that bold measures are announced to take economic reforms to the next level and whenever such announcements have been made, there have been pain felt by many," Godrej said in a statement.

"But the merits of the reforms that were first initiated in the early nineties are there for everyone to see. Irrespective of whichever political party has been in the government since then, the reforms have not been reversed," he added.


Chances of the ruling Congress party and the TMC patching up dimmed Wednesday with the Congress Core Group deciding against giving in to TMC pressure to reverse last week's reform announcements while Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee launched a new, scathing attack against her estranged ally.Indian Express reports.The two sides also indulged in harsh finger-pointing over the lack of communication between them leading up to the TMC pulling out of the UPA on Tuesday. Congress leaders said they tried several times to speak to Banerjee and keep her informed about the reform announcements. The West Bengal Chief Minister hit back sharply saying no one got in touch with her or her party and accused the Congress of launching a disinformation campaign.

Congress sources said the party leadership was "fed up" with Banerjee's "arm-twisting tactics" that had paralysed UPA-II and was determined not to give in to her any more. "With SP and BSP support, the government is stable. Besides, we have reasons to believe that in the event of a no-confidence motion in Parliament, even the Left will stay away from voting. Numbers are not an issue at all," a senior Congress leader told The Indian Express.

On the other hand, seeking to adopt a wait and watch attitude on its future strategy in the wake of Trinamool Congress' decision to withdraw support to UPA, Samajwadi Party today said while its supports the ruling dispensation as of now, it cannot say for how long it will continue.Meanwhile, sources in the party said the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party would not like to make its strategy public before October 10 when its arch-rival BSP is likely to make its stand public on the issue of supporting the UPA.

"As of today, we support the Congress-led alliance. But for how long it will continue, I cannot say. What will happen in future will be decided by the party leadership," said Ramgopal Yadav, SP General Secretary.

On the issue of mid-term polls, he said, "Mid term polls can happen even if the government is in majority. Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh have also said the country is heading for-mid term polls. We are set to announce our candidates in a couple of days (for 2014 LS elections)."

To a question on whether government will concede to the protests by opposition parties and allies on the issue of FDI in retail, diesel price hike and cap on LPG cylinders, Yadav said government has on several occasions said that it will move ahead with its policies but had to backtrack.He also said that as an ally, SP had the right to protest "wrongdoings" of the government.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the government was stable as it has the support of over 300 MPs in the 545-member Lok Sabha.

"We have support of over 300 members of Parliament who do realise that these are difficult times and know that hard decisions need to be taken," she said, rejecting the perception that the government had been reduced to a minority.

Soni said a number of leaders had made it clear that early elections were not in national interest.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said the government had support of enough members of Parliament and of friends both within and outside the coalition.

Party sources also said the government is determined to push through more reforms in the Winter session of Parliament, which would become easier with the TMC out of government. "In the next six months, we will change public perception about UPA-II. We will then be prepared for any eventuality," said another senior Congress leader.

While the government asserted that Banerjee did not respond to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's call four days back, the Congress said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had also unsuccessfully tried to speak to the TMC chief Tuesday night.

"We tried to speak to her four days ago. The Prime Minister tried to speak to her. We have left the message to her that she can speak. We have not heard anything," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in Delhi. The PM wanted to explain the rationale behind the government's decisions on FDI in multi-brand retail, diesel price increase and the cap on subsidized LPG cylinders.

Banerjee, however, claimed in Kolkata that no one from Delhi had contacted her "either before or after" the decisions were taken. Railway minister Mukul Roy said he had not received any message from the Prime Minister's Office to communicate with Banerjee. Union minister and TMC leader Saugata Roy said Banerjee had sent an SMS to Sonia Gandhi at 7 pm last Friday, conveying her opposition to the contentious decisions.

There was no response from the Congress president, claimed Roy. Congress sources, however, said the SMS was sent to a pradesh Congress secretary. The Congress president's office then asked Roy to give the number on which Banerjee could be reached. The number, however, remained "unreachable" despite several attempts by 10, Janpath to speak to Banerjee, the sources said.

"As I had said yesterday that Mamata Banerjee has raised certain issues regarding which talks will be held with the government. In the mean time, Congress president got a message that she wanted to talk to her. Effort was made to reach her on phone but contact could not be established," said AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

Banerjee hit back by calling a press conference in Kolkata and accusing the Congress of feeding the media "distorted facts". "No communication has come from the Centre. They are misinforming, disinforming and confusing the people," Banerjee said.

"Why are they speaking to the press now? Now they are coming up with concocted and distorted information. They should remember that I don't succumb to dhamki (threat) and humki (intimidation). They may control some news channels but not us," Banerjee said. The TMC would not budge from its stance on what she called "anti-people issues" such as raising fuel prices and allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.

"When Pranab Mukherjee was the union finance minister, there was a commitment in Parliament that decision on FDI in retail sector would not be taken unless there is a political consensus on this issue," Banerjee said, referring to the aborted move last year to allow FDI in multi-brand retail.

"Even a Congress minister in the union cabinet, Jyotiraditya Scindia, spoke against FDI. A coordination committee was set up to discuss all the important decisions. But where is `ordination' in the coordination committee? I cannot understand what prompted the Centre to take a final decision on FDI," Banerjee said.

Her party's stand on the issue had been communicated to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi five days earlier, Banerjee said. The government's decision to limit the number of subsidized LPG cylinders to six per year per subscriber was wrong and the TMC wants this to be raised to 24 cylinders, Banerjee said.

She also questioned the Centre's explanation that states had the option of not allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. "What option they are talking about? There cannot be any discrimination because there is no provision of it in the Constitution," she said.



The bandh called by NDA, Left parties and UPA supporters SP and JD(S) today evoked a mixed response in the capital with most markets remaining closed while vehicular movement was normal though protesters blocked traffic at some places.Small shops were seen open in the morning hours though big markets like Khan Market, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk and Kashmere Gate were shut.

The nation-wide bandh called by the BJP-led NDA and other Opposition parties to protest fuel hike and FDI in retail evoked little response in the metropolis today owing to Ganesh festivities across Maharashtra.The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have kept away from the day-long bandh due to the festival.Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde and Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Vinod Tawade will take to the streets later in the day to oppose Government's new reform measures. Taxis, auto rickshaws and BEST buses were seen plying on the roads since morning even though few have stayed away fearing violence. Trains are also running on schedule both on Central and Western line.

Samajwadi Party and BJP workers today staged demonstrations and stopped trains at a number of places in Uttar Pradesh in support of the bandh called by them against FDI in multi-brand retail and hike in diesel prices.Protestors stopped trains in Mathura, Agra, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow as part of their stir while BJP workers and traders blocked the Agra-Gwalior Highway by burning tyres.Major markets remained closed at a number of places in UP, including the state capital, official sources said in Lucknow.

Life in the city and elsewhere in West Bengal was disrupted by a 12-hour bandh called by Left parties to protest diesel price hike, FDI in multi-brand retail and cap on subsidised LPG.

Though airport services were normal, train services in Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway were disrupted, officials said.

Running of trains in South Eastern Railway to and from Howrah were disrupted since 8.30 AM due to obstruction caused by protesters at Ramrajatala station.

Howrah-Pune Duranto Express, which started from Howrah on time, was stopped by the squatters here, railway sources said.

Eastern Railway spokesperson said that train services on Howrah division of ER were disrupted as bandh supporters blocked rail tracks at several stations. The obstructions were made at Katwa, Jougram, Agradeep, Ahemedpur, Bagnapara, Bhadreswar, Baidyabati and other stations.

Six long-distance trains reached Howrah this morning before the bandh started. He said that in Sealdah division of ER, train services were disrupted as bandh supporters obstructed rail traffic at Bongaon, Hasnabad and Diamond Harbour sections, he said.

However, train services were normal in Sealdah-Dankuni, Sealdah main line upto Kalyani, Namkhana-Sealdah and Budge Budge-Sealdah sections.

Services of the underground Metro rail, the city's lifeline, were normal, officials said.

Airport sources said the flight operations were normal in Kolkata airport, except cancellation of two Indigo flights - Kolkata-New Delhi and Kolkata-Agartala which were scheduled to fly in the morning.

Seven long-distance trains arrived at Sealdah and Kolkata stations before the bandh started.

Very few private buses were on the road but taxis were mostly off the roads in view of their 72-hour strike starting today in support of fare price hike. State-run buses and trams plied normally.

Educational institutions, shops and business establishments were by and large closed in the city.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Kolkata), Jawed Shamim told PTI that there has been no untoward incident so far in the city.

Police pickets have been set up in various parts of the city to check any untoward incident.

Officials of West Bengal government said that normalcy would be ensured during today's general strike called by the Left in the state from 6 AM. The strike coincides with NDA's Bharat Bandh over the same issue.

The opposition-sponsored Bharat bandh against FDI in multi-brand retail and diesel price hike began this morning with protesters disrupting road and train services across Bihar.A group of Bharatiya Janata Party workers blocked rail traffic at Patna junction and stopped movement of a number of long distance express and passenger trains, official sources said.The protesters shouted slogans against the UPA government at the Centre demanding roll back of FDI in multi-brand retail and diesel price hike.There were reports of road blockade and disruption in train services from several districts from Bihar, the sources said.

Normal life was disrupted in Odisha, barring the western region, due to disruption in train and road traffic during a bandh called by BJP and Left parties to protest diesel price hike, FDI in multi-brand retail and ceiling on subsidised LPG.State government offices, banks and insurance offices remained closed on the occasion of 'Nuakhai'.Schools, colleges and other educational institutions remained closed due to the festival celebrated with gaiety in western districts like Sambalpur, Bolangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Jharsuguda and Deogarh.Describing the bandh, being observed as part of a country-wide programme as a success, Bharatiya Janata Party state President Jual Oram said, "We have decided to exclude all activities related to Nuakhai festival from the purview of bandh."

The bandh called by NDA and Left parties against the Centre's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail and hike in diesel prices evoked a mixed response in Tamil Nadu today.No untoward incident was reported so far from across the state and the protest was so far peaceful, police said. Government-run buses were on the road. However, autos affiliated to Left unions kept off the road even as a large number of commercial establishments and shops downed their shutters to join the protest.Schools and educational institutions remained open today and it was business as usual with government departments.

Batting for FDI in multi-brand retail, a representative body of Cooperative Agriculture Banks Federation, NCARDBF, on Thursday said it will help farmers to fetch better returns and also lead to improvement in recovery of loans from farmers.

"Definitely, FDI in retail will result in more income for farmers as big international retailers will be procuring agricultural commodities directly from them and paying them more while eliminating the middlemen," NCARDBF Managing Director KK Ravindran told reporters.

National Cooperative Agricultural & Rural Development Banks' Federation Limited (NCARDBF) also said the increase in the farmers' income would also lead to improvement in recovery of loans from farmers.

"As farmers will be benefited (because of FDI in retail), we will also be benefited. They (farmers) will return our money and there will be improvement in recovery and thereafter more funds could be deployed in agriculture," NCARDBF Chairman K Sivadasan Nair said.

State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development banks are functional in 19 states except Maharashtra, Assam, Orissa and Tripura. The total outstanding finance including investment credit to agriculture sector by banks is pegged at Rs15,800 crore with NPA level of 20%.

The loan recovery of these banks in the country was 45.6 per cent last year, though NCARDBF, MD, KK Ravindran expected that the loan recovery would improve in current fiscal year than that of last financial year.

During the conference, the apex body of cooperative lending structure sought from the Centre to turn the cooperative agriculture and rural development banks to full fledged banks like commercial banks operating in the country.

"We want that RBI should allow us to function like a commercial bank and then we can accept deposit like banks which can be used for other banking services other than financing to farm sector," Ravindran said.

"There are some cooperative banks operating like Punjab, Kerala, Rajasthan, West Bengal which are running efficiently and they can be converted into a full fledged banks," added Ravindran.

Irrespective of the political furore over entry of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the retail and aviation sectors, the impact on the organised job market is likely to be highly positive, say experts.DNA reports.

FDI will spur more investments, lead to expansion and mergers and acquisitions, and change ownership in retail and aviation. All this will ultimately create more jobs, they said.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, president - staffing, Randstad India, an HR services firm, said it is not possible to cite a precise figure for the number of jobs that FDI in these sectors will create. But hiring will happen at a faster pace, he said.

Randstad estimates that the consumer retail sector will add over 54,000 jobs this year, while aviation will give direct and indirect employment to 1.7 million people.

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India, said for every 250 sq ft of retail space that is added, one new job is created. "With FDI, the opportunities will be more," said Mishra.

In retail, economic slowdown and weak consumer sentiment have hurt most organised retailers of Indiathat have shut down 5-10% of their non-performing stores.

In aviation, several Indian carriers are suffering losses due to high taxes on fuel, loans, poor infrastructure, rising airport fees and stiff competition.

Against this background, FDI will help create front-end, shop-level and back-end jobs to shore up supply chains, operations, logistics, said Sunil Goel, director of search firm GlobalHunt India. "In aviation, too, there will be more jobs for roles at the ground level, ticketing, cargo, customer services as well as cabin crew."

An HR official from a retail chain said there were apprehensions earlier about organised retail chains. "But now, the organised sector puts forth a requirement for thousands of jobs each year. With the sector opening up, the job spread will subsequently increase."

The HR official said due to problems like outlets shutting down, the overall workforce in the retail sector has shrunk 40% this year, compared to the pre-2008 levels when players would open 100-120 outlets per year.

"Currently, expansion is going slow with hardly any new stores coming up. Thus FDI will reinfuse the need for expansion and hiring."