New Delhi, Jan 30: The new Law and Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley today asserted that reforms should be accompanied by modern technology, especially in fields such as intellectual property rights, IT and administration of justice. Talking to reporters after taking charge of his portfolios, he said there was need for "quality people" at the helm of regulatory bodies. Jailtley also said there was a need to repeal a number of outdated laws and had repealed about 300 of them in a day during his earlier stint as the Law and Justice Minister earlier. On his priorities at the Commerce and Industry Ministry, Jaitley said he would immediately familiarise himself with the nitty-gritties of the World Trade Organisation and would start meetings in this regard from tomorrow. However, he refused to comments on India's position on the WTO saying "I do not wish to make any specific comment just on the basis of preliminary discussion."
Stating that the new legislations were mainly as a result of the thrust on economic reforms, he said efforts are being made to remove controls and at the same time to create mechanisms. Jaitley said he planned to spend his morning hours in the Law ministry and the post lunch period at the Commerce and Industry ministry.
Bureau Report