8th November 2001, The Financial Express, New Delhi
Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), a global non-government organisation (NGO) working on trade policy, has criticised the government for ignoring its request for inclusion in the official delegation to Doha while accommodating other non-officials like business representatives from chambers of commerce.
The agency will be represented by its secretary general Pradeep S. Mehta at the Doha ministerial. He will also participate in the several NGO events to be organised on the sidelines of the main event.
In an official release, the NGO came down heavily on the government for keeping it out of the official team. It said that the government was of the opinion that only its bureaucrats had enough knowledge to participate in the talks. It added that the government saw to it that only those business representatives were included in the team who were willing to toe the official line so that they could continue with their protectionist agenda.