July 22, 2005, The Hindu
New Delhi


Five MPs have floated a parliamentary forum on economic issues. The non-profit organization, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS), is playing host to the initiative.

The MPs who have formed the forum are Yashwant Sinha of the Bhartiya Janta Party, Suresh Prabhu of the Shiv Sena, N. N. Krishnadas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress, and Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool Congress.

A CUTS spokesperson said letters will be sent to all MPs seeking their participation. The aim is to discuss divergent opinions on core economic policy issues reflected in and out of the Parliament and the media. “Now when India has come up as one of the top ten gross domestic producers and is on the way to become a great economic giant, it is incumbent upon policy and law makers to think and guide both the establishment and the public about what is best in the national interest,” said CUTS.

The parliamentary forum is expected to be “non-partisan and informal” where MPs cutting across party lines will be able to air their views on a periodical basis on basic economic issues in the field of trade, competition, regulatory reforms, investment and their cross linkages.