When Union Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy paid his New Year hotel bill on Monday, it was more than a month after he had checked out. Ordinary citizens don’t get that luxury. And he paid the bill only after The Sunday Express reported how it was first sent to a public sector entity, the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Speaking to this newspaper, Rudy was peeved at what he thought was his singling out. ‘‘Why me alone, check on all ministers,’’ he said. Good advice, since Rudy was only upholding the time-honoured tradition set by so many of his colleagues in the Union and state governments: have a good time at the expense of the taxpayer and the public sector.The largesse routinely doled out by PSUs in the form of cars, household effects, holidays, hotel accommodation and jobs for relatives is a scandal of mammoth proportions. So much so that the Vice President himself has moved in to tell all MPs of parliamentary committees that they can’t accept any gifts from PSUs. The civil aviation ministry, where vested interests have ganged up to ground reforms—Rudy knows this very well—has had a dubious record of patronage. Senior officials are known to have curried favours with their political bosses to retain perks that go with even part-time chairmanship and management of the so-called national carriers. Favours such as upgradation from economy class to business and first class are routinely sought by all and sundry, including some who are the most vociferous advocates of privatisation. Rudy’s indiscretion in asking the AAI to shell out money for his stay at Taj Exotica in Goa is fairly modest by comparison. Yet, it betrays the mindset of the political class: reforms erodes our powers, it snaps the strings we can pull.That’s why the simple answer to what can be done to stop this creaming off is: reforms. And aggressive reforms. If Indian Airlines is privatised and the AAI made an autonomous body with private participation by all stakeholders, it will be difficult for the Minister—or for that matter anyone—to assume that their pleasure is on the house. One reason why Brand Indian Airlines and Air India are devalued today and not exactly at the top of customer-satisfaction surveys is the reckless interference in their functioning by government officials and politicians, especially those in the civil aviation ministry who see it as their ticket to a free ride. Unless AAI, AI and IA are privatised, there is no real hope for the aviation sector in India. For, if the structural characteristics of the aviation economy do not change, if privatisation is not pursued actively, this sector will continue to nosedive even as influential men and women within the government and administration continue to milk it for their private ends.
