World Bank imposed no conditionalities: Cong

Hyderabad, Oct 25: Ridiculing the CPI(M) and the TDP for launching a tirade against the one billion dollar loan to Andhra Pradesh from the World Bank (WB), Congress Legislature Party today claimed that only the previous TDP Government and the present West Bengal Government had been implementing the WB ''agenda''.

The World Bank Managing Director Greame Wheeler was specific that the Bank was giving the loan without any preconditions and Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy too had declared that there were no conditionalities, CLP members N Kirankumar Reddy(Government Chief Whip) and D Sridhar Babu and S Udayabhanu(Government whips) claimed in a statement here.

Alleging that CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh unit secretary B V Raghavulu had a 'secret' understanding with the TDP, they said ''Does he want the Congress Government here to pursue the anti-poeple policies of the Left Front Government in West Bengal. Does he want the Congress Government here to purse the TDP's anti-people agenda. What is the condition on which he is joining hands with the TDP in every issue and trying to defame a pro-farmer, pro-poor and pro-downtrodden Government''.

They said power tariff in West Bengal was the highest now. Will Mr Raghavulu clarify whether the Andhra Pradesh Government's agricultural policy has been drafted by multinational firm Mckinsey or that of the West Bengal''. Noted Jawharlal Nehru University Professor Jayati Ghos, whose expertise was drafted by the Andhra Pradesh Government to guide its farm policy, was not useful to West Bengal Government. The earlier Jyoti Basu Government had rejected the conditionalities of the World Bank, but the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Government had given a go-by to such a policy now, they chrged.

Referring CPI(M)-led Centre of Indian Trade unions' declaration in West Bengal that ''the World Bank is not an untouchable, but the conditions are'', they said ''the Andhra Pradesh Government has just done that. So, what is wrong with the loan announced by the World Bank now for development of irrigation facities'', they asked.

The CPI(M) and the TDP seemed to be ideologically ''bankrupt and were attacking the Government on every issue nowadays, they charged.

UNI