In our country the more things change, the more they remain the same! We have had interminable debates on the merits and demerits of public sector vs private sector for two decades now. Meanwhile global economy has changed beyond recognition. Most countries, which subscribed to state monopolies and government ownership altered their policies radically. USSR collapsed, and east Europe has been liberated. China is almost entirely market driven, and state is retreating from business functions rapidly. And yet, our Union cabinet dithers on disinvestments! Let us examine a few facts.

The recent political controversy surrounding the bifurcation of Eastern Railway and the creation of East Central Railway with its headquarters at Hajipur once again raises two questions: the role of government in running enterprises, and the plight of infrastructure sector. It is by now well-recognized that public sector is often a euphenism for political patronage and private aggrandizement. Politicians in power or out of it, and career bureaucrats as a rule have no respect for economic logic or wealth creation.

One sector, the management of which will make or mar India’s economic future is electricity. For over a decade we have been incessantly talking of power sector reform, and yet the results, so far at least, have been disheartening. We focused on the one area which has been our strong point – generation, and ignored distribution which is our weakest link. As a result, hardly any private investment – domestic or foreign – materialized. Only about 6700 MW private generation capacity came up – a third of the expected investment.

The recent paralysis of public transport in AP on account of the RTC employees strike once again brought to the fore the debate between public sector and private sector. That we need competition and private initiative for improving productivity and quality of consumer goods and services is by now well-established. While there may have been a case for public investment in sectors like steel, government dabbling in business did more harm than good in the long term.

Starting this fortnight, the nation began to celebrate with great fanfare and nostalgia the birth centenary year of Loknayak JP. For a whole generation of youngsters, in whose lives the emergency period was a defining epoch, JP remains an authentic hero. Only those who lived through that period will understand the ecstacy and hope with which the fall of congress and the victory of the fledgeling Janata Party on March 21, 1977 were welcomed. Those were days of great expectation and genuine belief that a peaceful revolution had indeed begun.

Exactly a decade ago the Narasimharao-Manmohan Singh duo initiated the economic reform process under severe fiscal compulsions. The process has been incomplete and there have been many problems. But even the worst critics of economic liberalization would admit that there are many successes. Moderately high growth rates have been sustained for a decade. Inflation has been under control. Consumers have far greater choice now, with quality of goods improving, and prices declining.