Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

On the public sector

The article "In defence of public sector enterprises" (June 22) is realistic. PSEs balance the interests of all sections, instead of looking at profits alone. Even if they do not make huge profits, their utility and importance cannot be undermined in terms of the employment opportunities they provide to youth who are unable to catch up with globalisation. It was BSNL that provided the first mobile service in the remote villages of Uttaranchal from where I come.

Narayan Har Gupta,
Aligarh, U.P.

* * *

The article exposes the lack of knowledge and expertise of civil servants and accuses the media of publishing negative information on the public sector. But can politicians be absolved of mismanagement of the enterprises? They are equally responsible for the failure of the great idea of mixed economy.

M. Muthukrishnan,
Bangalore

* * *

After admitting to lapses in the functioning of the bureaucracy, lacuna in expertise and ideological bias, it is naive to expect that PSUs will deliver in the prevailing competitive environment. Protecting the public sector at the cost of the exchequer in the name of mixed economy will not work. The Government should instead concentrate on the areas in which the private sector is hesitant to enter for want of a revenue model.

R.P. Kapur,
New Delhi

* * *

The PSUs have a legal and just system of employee redress. The same cannot be said of the private sector. The employees have their say in almost everything from canteen facilities, transportation, and holidays to bonus. Most of the PSUs have quarters for their employees, run their own educational institutions, hospitals, guesthouses, etc. On the other hand, the private sector demands tax concessions, immunity from labour problems in the form of special economic zones, and the like. It is unfair to compare the two sectors, prioritise one and condemn the other under such lopsided conditions.

E. Arvind,
Bangalore

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Inflation worries
Talking with ULFA
The saga of Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh
Listening to readers — and convincing them
Deliver on pledges to Africa: Blair
Last chance saloon for world trade
Protest against film
Witch-hunt
On the public sector
On duty?
Rajiv remembered
Rudest city
"We are trying to find an alternative path for our own development"

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu