Best of BS Opinion: Administration in intensive care, power crisis & more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

The Haryana government’s proposal to reserve jobs in new private sector units for “locals” is part of a dangerous precedent set by Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat of prioritising regional identity over the national growth story. Such moves could not only create ripple effects in other industrialised states but also encourage a climate of inter-state discrimination in employment, as the second edit points out here.

Other opinion today focuses on the poor state of state finances. Kanika Datta sums up the views 

Ashok Banerjee and Partha Ray of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta assess trends in market borrowings of 27 states and point to the need for greater prudence and innovation in borrowing programmes. Read it here

The feted Ujwal Discom Yojana or UDAY plan to tackle discom debt has failed for insufficient reform by the entities themselves. The latest audited accounts suggest that discoms now pose a major risk to parlous state finances, says the top edit. Read it here

My column talks of the necessity of leveraging the experience of setting up mega-Covid-19 medical facilities as a standard operating procedure for India’s underserved public health system in the long run Read here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Don’t shout back at us that all lives matter. White lives matter, it is obvious, the evidence is clearly there. We want black lives to matter now. Simple as that”

Former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding on a Sky Sports video