I share the concerns voiced by George Fernandes on disinvestment. Though I am a staunch believer in divestment, a few questions seek answers. Blame it on faulty valuations, but national assets worth hundreds of crores created over decades are being transferred to the rich and wealthy at throwaway prices. Consider this: One bought a government telephone company for Rs 55 crore, three-fourths of which was available as a bank loan. A post-purchase study revealed that the company had a government order worth Rs 200 crore and land worth Rs 500 crore. In effect, a national asset worth Rs 700 crore was handed over for Rs 55 crore—not even 10% of the actual valuation. A number of government hotels have been similarly sold at unbelievably cheap prices.Who’s to blame? Not Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie He is too particular about his integrity and has tried his best to speed up disinvestment in the most credible manner. Similarly, Disinvestment Secretary Pradeep Baijal is also known as a very sincere and honest officer. We should question the agencies that conducted the valuation of these government properties. A few private companies that are linked to international financial agencies were assigned this job. It’s likely that irregularities crept in at that level. These companies didn’t assess buildings and lands at the prevailing market rate and fixed the price for government hotels and companies that owned landed properties worth Rs 500 crore at a paltry Rs 50 crore.The current volume of business was also taken into consideration while fixing the value of a hotel. This was a faulty approach. In the last two years, there’s been a sharp fall in the number of foreign tourists and business delegates that reflected poorly on hotel accounts. Cycles come in every industry, and nobody can rule out a reverse trend after the present lull.Running hotels is not the government’s job. Similarly, it makes much sense to hand over loss-making government companies to private players to avoid closures, which not only adversely affects employment but also hampers national productivity. A number of government companies, like BALCO, have been successfully disinvested. But such successes cannot take the glare off cases where the right valuation wasn’t done or where disinvestment backfired. According to June 2000 figures, VSNL made a profit of Rs 261 crore. The previous year, it made a profit of 365 crore till June. Profits have actually gone down by 29% since the Tatas took over to impart ‘‘professionalism’’. The VSNL share value came down from Rs 135 to Rs 121 and its income from Rs 1,642 crore to Rs 1,428 crore. VSNL’s profit should have been invested in infrastructure so that calls get cheaper. Amma of All GimmicksIf Jayalalithaa already had a reputation for being unpredictable, she’s now developing a knack for things irresponsible, if not irrelevant. Her recent attack on Sonia Gandhi shows how the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is trying to create an issue out of nothing. It is unfortunate that Sonia’s foreign origin has been unnecessary politicised time and again. P A Sangma was even sent to the Constitutional Review Commission for this specific purpose, but he eventually resigned. Now we should leave it to the people of India who are wise enough to decide if their political verdict will be influenced by th Congress president’s past.The All India Congress Committee promptly flashed a 1999 letter written by Jaya to the then president extending support to a possible Congress government under Sonia’s leadership. While the Congress was very much within its rights to call Jaya’s bluff, it was digressing. Jayalalithaa has every right to change her mind, but it is ridiculous on her part to rake up the foreign origin issue just for cheap political mileage when the Government of India itself has clarified its stand on the same.In a recent submission before the Delhi High Court hearing a PIL, the Law Ministry stated that the President had done nothing wrong by inviting Sonia to prove her majority following the fall of the Vajpayee Government in 1998, and that this didn’t violate the basic structure of the Constitution. On behalf of the Government, the Law ministry further stated that the Citizenship Act 1955 didn’t allow any discrimination between a citizen by birth and one who acquired it later. The Supreme Court also clarified that foreign origin doesn’t matter once one acquires Indian citizenship. That being the case, people who hold Constitutional posts should exercise more caution so that they don’t end up contradicting the Constitution itself.Unholy HolidaySomebody in the Ministry of Personnel should explain how the Central government staff took their Janmashtami holiday on Friday instead of Saturday. This not only meant an extra off but also three consecutive holidays (Saturday, Sunday being weekly holidays). As most states follow the Central leave schedule, they also enjoyed the privilege. The Fifth Pay Commission recommended a higher pay, a six-day week and lesser number of public holidays. While a hefty hike was awarded to the staff, other recommendations to ensure a better work culture were conveniently ignored. The PMO should immediately order a probe into the ‘‘Janmashtami holiday scam’’.
