Computers Today, July 16-31, 2000; Telecom

July 16-31, 2000 TELECOM

Who Owns the Telecoms?

Sole votaries of socialism are ministers and staff-beneficiaries of status quo.

T.H. Chowdary

The true nature of socialism as philosophised and practised in India for over 40 years and given respect to by calling it Nehruvian is becoming clear to the public only now. And the consequences are about to bankrupt the nation unless resolutely righted. Under the Industrial Policy Resolutions, "the commanding heights of the economy" were to be "occupied by the state". So, we have over 130 public sector undertakings (PSUs). Actually, there's nothing public about them and it would be more appropriate to call them state-owned undertakings (SOUs). Besides these SOUs, we have a number of government departments which provide commercial services, like the telecommunications and the railways.

The capital for most of the SOUs has been raised through public debt. The Government is repaying more than Rs 80,000 crore annually by way of interest on loans that it raised to fund these SOUs. Socialism interpreted as state ownership of industries and businesses has failed everywhere. However, in India it still carries on. And its staunchest votaries are the staff and the ministers. This is not without reason: they're the sole beneficiaries of the status quo.

Some sections in the ruling National Democratic Alliance are in favour of the government divesting its equity in favour of public and financial institutions-domestic and even foreign. By divesting equity, it is possible to wipe out most of the government debt. For example, the Rs 70,000 crore worth of assets of the telecom could fetch over Rs 3,50,000 crore and the Rs 60,000 crore worth of assets of the Prasar Bharati could bring in about Rs 2,40,000 crore. Together, these can wipe out half the country's public debt.

The Real Owners

Take for example the Department of Telecommunications (DOT). Of the nearly Rs 80,000 crore of assets, about Rs 70,000 crore worth of revenue have come from the subscribers. And while the consumers, that is, 25 million telephone subscribers, are the real owners, it is amazing that the employees of the telecommunications think and behave as though they are the owners. The concerned minister thinks that if telecoms are corporatised and eventually disinvested in favour of private investors, he will have no power and patronage to dispense with (like free phones to employees). So he is, if not outwardly, inwardly in league with the employees who want to preserve their dominion and authority.

Moreover, the engineers (led by directly recruited ITS officers) are demanding that one of them and not an IAS officer should be appointed the secretary of the DTS. According to the Indian Companies Act, it is the shareholders who elect directors and appoint chairman/managing director. By wanting to exercise such a function, obviously, the engineers are asserting that they are the owners of the telecommunications. Can the nation agree to this?

The Cause of Socialism

The word socialism was inserted in the Preamble of the Constitution during the Emergency, requiring that political parties wishing to contest elections should affirm their faith, among others, in socialism. Is it not ridiculous? Nobody has defined socialism. Once, in India, it included the occupation of the commanding heights of the nation's economy and, therefore, state ownership. But that is no longer the philosophy. Are we to weed out all non-socialist parties, however democratic, freedom-loving, welfare-professing and state-ownership opposing from contesting elections? We seem to have transformed socialism as meaning government of the employees and ministers ('e' and 'm'), for the 'e' and 'm' and by the 'e' and 'm'.

The writer is ex-chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd

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