Public relation

Air India is asking the government for another Rs 2,000 crore to cover its losses even as union pressure prevents it from taking the obvious loss-controlling measure of downsizing its workforce. The fact that it is carrying flab can be gauged from the work profile of a deputy manager in the corporate communication department. He serves food to senior airline officials and mops up the table after them. At press conferences, he distributes press releases (he cannot write them because his language skills are weak). Yet, he is senior enough to potentially become a general manager in the department. How did he acquire his current designation? In the typical public sector fashion: he was given the job on compensatory grounds when his father died and has risen up the ranks from sheer longevity of service.