TLI Opinion
New Delhi: After operating multiple flights to bring back hundreds of Indians stranded in Coronavirus-hit countries such as China, Italy and Japan, national carrier Air India would on March 25 and 29 carry the citizens coming from Iran to Jodhpur for quarantining them.
Air India would ferry passengers in two batches of 250 and 229 on Wednesday and Sunday respectively after they arrive by Mahan Air flights from Iran.
By doing so, the airline would be doing its national or sovereign duty. In the past, it has launched numerous rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations when private carriers showed reluctance or refused to come forward. At a time when a natural calamity hit some part of the country, the airline fixed lower airfares on those routes stopping private players from fleecing the travellers and exploiting their situation.
Similarly, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other PSUs which have now been put on the block as part of the government’s reckless privatization drive have played their crucial roles. This has brought back the role of state-run companies at the centre stage. They have proved, yet again, that they remain relevant and their role can not be discounted.
Not without reasons, policy-makers created public distribution system (PDS) to keep a check on price rise of essential items or black-marketing by greedy hoarders.
In a society where there is high degree of inequality and a large section of people is vulnerable, policy decisions cannot be taken keeping only profit in the mind. It is the welfare of the general public that has to be accorded top priority. This cannot be done by handing over all the enterprises for delivering goods and services in the hands of private sector.
Many countries in Europe are now perhaps realizing the importance of a public sector entity in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. They have started recognizing the role of airlines and airports for national and strategic reasons.
When India became independent in 1947, the country’s private sector did not have the financial muscle to invest in large production capacity or transport infrastructure. In order to build capacity, public sector enterprises were created and tasked with the mammoth task. The then government in 1991 launched massive economic reform and opened various sectors for the private players. Over the years, private companies have grown in size and scale.
The public sector enterprises in many sectors have been eclipsed completely by private players but in strategic areas they continue to enjoy their significance. The government should, therefore, rethink its decision on privatization and roll back the process initiated so far.
There may be a need to reorganize the PSUs including our national carrier but we can certainly not afford to rid them off as yet.