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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
Nistula Hebbar

Panchjanya terms Amazon as ‘East India Company 2.0’

Representational Image. (Source: REUTERS)

Increasing concerns are being expressed by organisations associated with the RSS about the corporate sector in the country, not just India Inc, but multinational corporations as well.

Not just cover stories in the RSS associated Panchjanya magazine, which had taken on Amazon this week after having taken on Infosys a couple of weeks ago, but also the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), an organisation that lobbied successfully for India’s exit from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), has been raising the red flag over what it terms “flipping” of Indian unicorns.

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In its second cover in three weeks, Panchjanya dealt with the issue of the corporate group and its reported acts of omission and commission. After hitting out at the Infosys group in a cover story for messing up India’s Income Tax portal and attributing unsavoury motives to this mess up, calling into question the group’s patriotism, this week, the magazine took on Amazon.

In the cover story, the magazine minced no words in terming the company “East India Company 2.0” for its “marauding, unethical ways” and alleged that the company had bribed Indian officials. Last week, the Union government said it would probe the charges.

SJM’s concerns

The SJM on its part, agreed with the sentiments expressed about Amazon, but had other concerns as well.

Ashwani Mahajan of the SJM said, “Our happiness with regard to our start-ups is a short term one, as we find that many haven’t remained Indian any more. Most of these high-ticket start- ups have been flipped away and are no longer Indian companies in essence.

“In the Sangh [RSS], we are not against wealth creators, but there is a definite nationality to capital, whether you agree or not. This flight of Indian capital and entrepreneurship is not something that has started now. Many changes have occurred in the last 30 years, but there are certain regulatory changes that the government can undertake even now to arrest this trend.

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“There is need to overhaul the system from policy, regulations, access to capital to push entities to register in India. The differential policies discriminating indigenous and attracting foreign entities needs to stop. However, to ultimately discourage Indian start-ups to flip, we need to take some tough measures as well, including those who flip, a foreign company.”

The concerns expressed by organisations associated with the RSS reflect the uneasiness with regard to certain developments in the corporate sector within the ideological universe of the BJP, the Sangh Parivar. A concern which the RSS may want addressed by the government sooner rather than later.

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