Walmart – A Safe Play

With the blink of an eye, the calendar flips by and flings us to the month of merry making. Jingle ring the bells to the sound of dawning Christmas which brings me to the question “So what is it that you wish for this Christmas? – A smooth sports car? Perhaps a pet? Maybe that beautiful dress on the mannequin in that old mall? Some would even wish that finally Justin Bieber quits singing. Or Ideally a sandelightwich?

Well the sandelightwich, that’s my wish.

While keep Santa busy with our wishes, our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has been riding the sleigh of reindeer for months now, endeavoring to bring all our wishes under one roof, if not for free, surely for very reasonable prices through the Foreign Direct Investment in multi brand retail.

Since it is Christmas, we might as well do with a tale from the ghost of Christmas past- our country’s past. So let us gather round a Christmas tree and be all ears.

About 60 years ago when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru established the world’s largest democracy, our country earned exemplar independence. Hundreds of years of colonial rule had drained our coffers clean. And Nehru in his position established copious public sector institutions nationwide. These marketing establishments proved promising as India harvested its scarce resources and worked its way to a productive agrarian economy. In 1990-1991, a silver lining gleamed when the then Prime Minister P.V Narasimha Rao faced with mounting fiscal deficits introduced Manmohan Singh, a meritorious economist, as the finance minister.

And just like Merlin, Manmohan Singh too performed the miracle. With the help of the World Bank, he initiated the era of liberalization and India became the economic hot spot.

But in the present times, India is in a situation which calls for a dire proliferation of the erstwhile established economy through the liberalization policies. And Walmart is opportunity in disguise knocking at our doorstep; a curb to various economic problems faced by our population.

Now with the introduction of Walmart, our frail domestic market will be flooded with quality products from foreign entrepreneurs which will give the required competition necessary to compel our local markets to flourish, as a means of survival. Walmart would clearly be a revelation to take India to a whole new dimension in the economic race. It would also mean a drastic fall in the soaring prices of goods which are following their way to coal and oil, hence beneficiary to the entire population in general.

Secondly through FDI in retail our country’s population can be opined with various entrepreneurship which in turn gives rise to ample employment opportunities to the job-starving millions hence providing employment security, a way to rope out of the perpetually prevailing poverty. Along with this, foreign investments would also account for the substantial capital required to fuel the economy and infrastructure as Walmart certainly cannot function without level infrastructure.

Hence instilling Walmart might just be the much desired present we could all make use of at times as demanding as such.