Baalu Capitalism

What8217;s wrong, T.R. Baalu asked in Parliament, if he is pushing the case for a company to receive cheap, government-priced natural gas. The company happens to be run by the minister8217;s son 8212; another company, also seeking cheap raw material, is run by the other son. So supplying Baalu juniors with natural gas will mean cutting off other customers. Ministers are not supposed to lobby for family members8217; business interests, and when they are caught doing so, they are at least supposed to be a little embarrassed about it. So, Minister, we don8217;t know where to begin when you ask what8217;s wrong, except to say that you may have set a new standard in political morality. Now, politicians will openly express injured surprise when asked about enriching kith and kin via manipulation of government policy. There are a couple of other things also wrong in this dreadful business of treating public assets with such contempt in a taxpaying democracy.

First, the business of public assets itself. One reason privatisation has been so slow and erratic is systemic bias. Were ONGC and GAIL private companies, their chairmen would be far less amenable to being ticked off by a cabinet minister for not providing his children favours. Politicians and bureaucrats don8217;t want some sectors to be denationalised. A whole spoils system will collapse then. In oil and gas the stakes are always high, as is clear from the murky record of oil regulation, and favours doled out tend to have high quid pro quo quotients. Expect to find the most resistance at all times when the issue of the state moving away from hydrocarbons comes up.

The second thing wrong is the DMK. It is no surprise that the gas-for-sons lobbying started during the NDA8217;s time and has persisted during the UPA regime. Both the BJP and the Congress have been forced to prove how grateful they are to the DMK. Karunanidhi has in effect told two successive prime ministers that DMK ministers are not really part of the cabinet. The DMK needs a spell in the political wilderness. As for Baalu juniors, gas is available at market price 8212; buy it like others.