(How they hate the word “privatisation,” which we all love so much.)
The news report says:
DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter and Rajya Sabha MP, Kanimozhi, speaking on the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Monday, signalled the government could not count on her party’s support for its disinvestment plans, and should avoid the temptation of selling stakes in state-run firms for generating revenue.
“The government should not look at sell off as an option for generating revenue. The country has been following the socialist model and the government should stay with it,” Ms Kanimozhi later told ET. The DMK accounts for 18 members of parliament and is the third-biggest constituent of the ruling UPA.
What is the real reason for this?
After all, we all know that the DMK is a close-knit family business – there is Kanimozhi, there are the Marans, and there is MK Stalin, now deputy CM.
This is not Socialism; it is Familyism. Society does not own the PSUs; the Family owns them all.
Of course, in this respect the DMK is much like the Congress, or the National Conference.
The real reason for this phenomenon is not hard to find.
Any “socialist” system of State ownership of industries always ends up as a system in which the “party” controls everything.
These PSUs contribute to the party kitty in many ways: first, those “managers” who get to run the PSUs pay for their privilege – there are “kickbacks”; second, these managers also recruit party workers in a typical “jobs for the boys” arrangement with the Supremo; and thirdly, they offer huge scope for other forms of patronage.
No Socialist Supremo would like to lose his control of State-run enterprise.
Of course, poor “society” loses.
All the PSUs lose money – Our Money.
We learn the hard way that Society and Party are different things.
(Just as State and Society are different.)
A genuine “political party” does not run businesses. All it controls are some departments of government that provide a few public goods and services - that too, only when it is in office. Such a party claims to “represent” the people who support it. In the case of the DMK, as with the Congress, the party does not actually represent anyone. Rather, it buys support at election time by offering freebies to the poor. The DMK has offered the poor colour TVs.
This is the ugly story of Indian Socialism. And this will continue for another five years, for the same news report says that the Trinamool has also opposed disinvestment - just like the Left. I think Sonia and Manmohan must be happy with their allies.
There is thus only one way to clean up Indian politics:
Total and Complete Privatisation.
As the son of a former public sector employee, I witnessed first hand how the ministers charge b'cats for the cushy jobs, use any company vehicles as their "baap ki jageer", award contracts to their favoured parties, keep their mistresses/relatives in the guest houses, and constantly harass the few honest left among the corrupt.
ReplyDelete38 years of service in the public sector left my father a bitter, cynical man who can't view anything in a positive light. There must be a special place in hell for people who do this to a man.
Well I agree completely with you Sauvik Da, and yes I also want complete Privatisation, be it in Airways, Telecom, Municipal Bodies, Electricity Board, Radio, Television Networks, Construction Companies etc etc.
ReplyDeleteBut do you Sauvik Da feel than in a Country like India, can Privatisation of Railways be actually beneficial. Do Respond.
Railways in India were during the British days run by upto 27 different private firms. They were guaranteed a minimum return of 4% (or something around that) by Govt. of India.
ReplyDeleteAs far as economic theory is concerned
1. railway is not a "public good" (non rival non excludable)
2. there are no economies of scale that cannot be exploited by contracts between different private companies
The reason why railways is governmetn is more or less just a political one. They say the railways workers union controls India, he (its never a she) has the power to paralyze the whole nation.