Bill to wind up loss-making units introduced

A bill empowering the state government to restructure loss-making state enterprises was introduced in the Maharashtra assembly today.

The bill gives the state government powers to wind up, privatise or reorganise these units. The combined losses at the end of fiscal 2004-05 stood at Rs 5,953 crore.

To carry out restructuring of loss-making state enterprises, a board was created in 2000 through a statute. The state corporation board recommended the liquidation of 15 corporations, privatisation of two and restructuring of one.

However, the act through which the board was created also made it mandatory for the state government to implement the board's recommendations only through the board. This provision is now being changed and now powers to carry out restructuring lies with respective department

However, when the board was created no time frame was set for government to accept the board's recommendations, despite the board giving its recommendation in 2003, no ministry which controlled any sundry corporation was referred back to the board.

In the meantime, member of the board constituted under the chairmanship of former chief secretary Sharad Upasani saw the members leaving the board one after another in frustration, including Upasani.

So far, for the last one to one and half years, a peculiar situation had developed despite Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh being able to make a broad consensus on implementing the board's recommendation, there was no board in existence and considering the previous experience, no prominent persons from public life were ready to join the restructured board.

So to execute restructuring of the board's recommendations, the state government finally decided to wind up the restructuring board and take all powers of board in its own hand, said a senior official from finance ministry.

To facilitate the move, Repeal of Maharashtra State Enterprises (Restructuring and other Special Provisions) Bill 2000 was introduced in the state assembly.