FDI in retail will lead to massive unemployment: Uma

Patna: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti onSaturday held that FDI in multi-brand would render crores unemployed once foreign retailers set up shop in the country. She said contrary to the Prime Minister's assertion, seven crore people, mostly traders, would become jobless and as also another 20 crore employed in the retail business.

The senior BJP leader, who is on a 'Ganga Samagra Yatra' to create awareness on the cleanliness of the river Ganga, said that corruption and vote bank politics posed a threat to the country at present. She said, in her opinion a person who respected all religions should be deemed secular and the secular fabric in the country was largely strengthened by the liberal thoughts of Hinduism.

About her ongoing mission, Bharati said that she was for enactment of a stringent law to crack down on those polluting the holy river and that the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) had failed in its duty to ensure its cleanliness. She said that the Centre should not construct dams within a 30 km radius on the river's course at Gangotri, Mandakini and Alaknanda so that the free flow of the river water was not disrupted.

Bharti said that she would organize a conference of scientists at New Delhi to ascertain their views for protection of the river.