Letters: The other side

Apropos the article, "This minister hasn't been up to the job" (May 23) by T N C Rajagopalan, vital facts have probably escaped his attention. While it is known that exports are declining for the last 17 months, the reasons are primarily global: growth of world trade has moderated 2012 onwards and declined by over 13 per cent in 2015. Such a decline has been witnessed even by countries following export-led growth. China, the world leader in exports, also met the same fate.

The government is constructively engaged with stakeholders. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Seetharaman convened two meetings with the Export Promotion Council and other bodies, besides meeting them separately. She called a meeting of the Board of Trade, the highest advisory body, to deliberate on the global situation and devise a strategy to counter it. She presided over the Council for Trade Development and Promotion attended by commerce and industry ministers of various states and Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO), Ficci and Assocham.

The commerce secretary visited Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Manipur and Karnataka to interact with exporters of the states in less than a year's time. Close to 100 workshops were held under the Niryat Bandhu Scheme to reach out to exporters, particularly start-ups.

The government has taken measures that have helped arrest the fall in exports to about five per cent in March and April 2016 and growth has been witnessed by several sectors in these months. Initiatives such as the interest equalisation scheme, an increase in the MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme) benefit and dispensing with landing certificate, among others, have been taken by the department to resolve exporters' grievances.

While a writer can be critical, a report detailing what has been done by the commerce minister and what else needs to be done would have been much appreciated.

S C Ralhan, President, FIEO

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