Letters: Eradicate inherent ills

In the article, "Need for better public sector oversight" (May 31), the author, Laveesh Bhandari, is right in saying that public sector undertakings (PSU) should be commercially orientated, but his suggestion to ensure this by appointing a board of independent professionals as regulator may not be apt.

The failure of PSUs arises from the lack of accountability of their board of directors. Of the 235 PSUs operational at present, about 25 per cent suffered a loss of Rs 27,360 crore in 2014-15. But no heads rolled. The unpleasant truth is that most PSU board members are political appointees and are protected by their sponsors as long as they fulfil the latter's demands. This makes such board members complacent towards their financial responsibility.

Besides, PSUs are the biggest employers in the organised sector, employing 66 per cent (about 18 million) of the workforce. This has given rise to well-entrenched trade unions, which hamper manpower shredding or the use of technology to improve productivity. When the dominant union is affiliated to the political party in power, political interference becomes an obstacle to the functioning of an organisation. This interference extends to altering wise financial decisions. Unless these inherent ills are eradicated, no amount of external oversight is likely to succeed.

Y G Chouksey, Pune

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard

Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number