Privatisation - The argument continues

I would like to continue Vatsan's argument. Starting with ITI. It's a telephone instrument company owned by the central government and during the telecom monopoly days, ITI was also the monopoly supplying telephonic instruments to the telcom department. Those who have used the telephone instruments during the 70s and 80s will know the quality of those phones. Today ITI is not taken seriously and they cry foul.

I have serious problem with the statement 'profit making PSUs'. The Navaratnas as the nine supposedly profit-making PSUs are called, are not to be sold to private sector because they are doing well.

I have this question: What do we mean by 'doing' well? They make profits? Has anyone asked the question how much profit our Railways is making? And how much they should actually be making? We all know anything and everything to do with our railways is inferior. The coach is dirty, the fans don't work, the coffee supplied in the compartments are pukish, and the drainage water runs through the middle of the track. I'm asking this question: Is it because Railways charges less? No. It is because the contract for all these are awarded to dubious contractors who eat up most of the money and provide inferior quality stuff to railways. The coffee is full of chickory because it's cheap. The fans are made of inferior metal so they rust and stop working.

Where is all this money going to? Who is accountable for all this money? The whole of affluent Bihar and UP is living on Railways money. They win these contracts and supply substandard products to Railways. That's why every leader from Bihar wants to become the Railways Minister because he can make truckloads of money.

Still Railways makes profits. So we shouldn't be privatising it? I reckon the profit of Railways will triple within a year of privatising it and the services too will improve greatly. And believe me the prices will drop. Like how it happened to telecom, milk, airways and every other privatised industry.

'Profit making PSUs' is a miscued belief. Lalu Prasad Yadav is the worst clown of a politician India has ever seen. If Railways is making profit even under his regime, imagine 'how much' profit it should actually be making.

Just on the day I was writing this, Railways witnessed another accident and took away 16 lives due to break failure. I asked my friend who is an ardent admirer of improvements in railways: Why is it that Railways witnesses accidents whilst it is such an ancient technology whereas the airways doesn't register accidents at all even though it is relatively new and far more complex technology? I have to draw the conclusion that it is because it's run by the government. Just like how we witnessed Rukawat ke liye khed hai so often during Doordarshan days. But Railways rukawats are proving to be more costlier than Doordarshan.

All that you said about revenue account going to reduce fiscal deficit happens because there's no accountability. UTI mucks up and the government rescues them with fund allocation. Whose money is it anyways? It is my hard-earned tax money which went to fund the recklessness of the UTI managers whereas actually it should be going towards building expressways across the nation. And where was this government when Eswari or Maxima finance drowned?

More importantly and to bring back the focus, the government should only 'govern' and not provide services, manafacture and sell goods. The government making watches and bread was the hangover from the socialist era where public asset was the norm. Not anymore. Today, the government has no business to be in the business. Government should act more like a regulatory authority and govern and manage capital markets and regulate monopolistic practices. Apart from this, they should worry more about national security, foreign relations, currency and to a little extent, rural management.

If they are not going to do that, I'd be happy if they can use the profits from these PSUs to run the government rather than deducting tax from me.