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<table><tbody><tr><td><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo_090312095301.jpg" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img></div><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo1_090312095225.jpg" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img></div><br><div align="center"><b>Murasoli Maran (left) resisted </b><b>G.V. Ramakrishna's<br>moves but was forced to give in at times</b><br></div></td></tr></tbody><p>Ever since it was reduced to a caretaker government on November 28, the United Front (UF) has done little other than harp on the need to continue with the reforms programme. So when it issued a notification curtailing the powers of the Disinvestment Commission last week, it seemed rather out of sync.</p><p>The one-and-a-half page order issued by the Department of Public Enterprises limited the commission's role to that of an advisory body, removing from its terms of reference the responsibility to regularly monitor progress and supervise the implementation of its recommendations. In other words, the Government did not want the commission to build pressure on the disinvestment issue.<br><br>"It is a negative move," says well-known economist and commission member Suresh Tendulkar. "The Government did not want to be pushed into taking decisions." Commission Chairman G.V. Ramakrishna, who has also been on the offensive till now, has called a board meeting on February 13 to debate the notification.</p><p>That many of the commission's recommendations have not gone down well with the Government is known. For example, of the 34 cases of public-sector undertakings (PSUs) considered till date, the commission has prescribed complete privatisation in 11 cases, partial privatisation in 11 others and has put off disinvestment in seven of them - in most cases, till sectoral reforms take place.</p><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo-steps3_090312114538.jpg" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img></div></p><p>The 11 PSUs, in which a complete sale of equity or assets has been recommended, include Modern Foods, Pawan Hans Helicopters, NEPA Ltd, Pyrites Phosphates and Chemicals and Hotel Corporation of India, which owns the Centaur chain. There are more than 18,000 employees in these units.</p><p>The Government has been under pressure from this workforce not to accept the commission's recommendations as complete privatisation would mean retrenchment of a sizeable number of employees. </p><p>In fact, 2,317 employees of Modern Foods, the first company chosen for 100 per cent disinvestment, had threatened to go an an indefinite strike if the Government went ahead with the privatisation plan. </p><div class="itemcenter"><amp-iframe height="62" title="" width="320" sandbox="allow-forms allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014%5Cu0026native%3D1" class="mrBt15 preferred-source-banner"> </amp-iframe></div></p><p>The commission's grouse is that its suggestions are not being taken seriously. In its fourth report submitted to the Government in August, it spoke of how four of its six policy suggestions were in cold storage. </p><p>So were eight of its nine recommendations on corporate governance. To make matters worse, the commission claimed that the Government hadn't deemed it fit to even inform it on the status of its recommendations.</p><p>The fifth report, released in November, took off from where the fourth had left and wanted a time limit for ministries to accept its recommendations. It pointed out that despite five reports, the disinvestment fund had not become operational, an effective voluntary-retirement scheme was yet to be introduced and there was no move to professionalise PSU boards. </p><p>In every report, the commission has been emphasising that its recommendations should be accepted in full so that the Government gets the maximum benefit from the sale of public-sector shares.</p><div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo-steps-sml_090312114603.jpg" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img><div class="clicktoenlarge"><a href="#" target="_blank" rel="dofollow">Click here to Enlarge</a></div></div></p><p>As these reports were being made public, the Industry Ministry could ill-afford to ignore the commission's recommendations. For example, the first report had recommended greater financial and operational autonomy for PSUs based on their performance.</p><p>It was only after this that Industry Minister Murasoli Maran came out with his list of <i>navaratnas</i> - the nine prized PSUs - granting them more autonomy. However, this list did not include the names of Gas Authority of India Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which had been identified by the commission for the select status. By highlighting this in its subsequent reports, the commission managed to get the names of these two enterprises on the list.</p><p>To review the guidelines governing the functioning of PSUs, the ministry also set up a committee under N. Vittal, chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board, last May. Following its recommendations, the ministry had by the year-end, deleted 696 of the 892 guidelines. </p><p>More recently, it has been debating the possibility of setting up a pre-investigation board, as suggested by the commission, to scrutinise the commercial decisions of PSUs so as to avoid undue harassment in the hands of the vigilance authorities.</p><p>This game of one-upmanship between the commission and the ministry notwithstanding, PSU reforms were beginning to take shape. But the political turmoil at the Centre changed all that. With the UF becoming a caretaker, the Left parties, supported by the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), mounted their opposition to the commission. </p><p>Even the notification curtailing the powers of the commission does not seem to have appeased them. Says CITU Secretary Tapan Sen: "It is not enough. The commission will continue with its misdeeds. We want the whole thing scrapped." In their election manifestos, the Left parties are emphatic about reviving sick companies and completely doing away with divestment of PSUs.<br><br>While that may be far-fetched, the fact remains that in the absence of pressure from the commission, the whole process of divestment will slow down and the reforms programme will suffer. That profitability in the public sector is dismal cannot be debated. </p><p>According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the net profit earned by Central government companies on the total capital employed is a mere 2.3 per cent. </p><table><tbody><tr><td><b>The new order is said to have been prompted by demands of trade unions. </b><br></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>That in the case of the private sector is 8.1 per cent. Also, as the latest report of the Reserve Bank of India points out, 101 out of the total 243 public-sector enterprises in the country continue to make losses. This being the case, the commission felt its push for divestment of government shares was justified.</p><p>But ironically till date the Government's disinvestment efforts have not been based on improving public-sector profitability. On the contrary, the aim is to mop up money to plug budgetary shortfalls. Ramakrishna, who has been opposing this, says the sale proceeds should flow into a fund which could be used to revitalise other PSUs and make them more sale worthy. But his suggestion has gone unheeded. This could have a bearing on the money realised from the sale of shares.<br><br>In the past few years, the Government has not succeeded in realising its disinvestment targets. Even in the current year, it had set a target of getting Rs 7,000 crore but till date only Rs 940 crore has come in from the sale of MTNL shares. </p><p>An additional Rs 250 crore may come in from the sale of the shares of Container Corporation of India. Whether the shares are getting their real value is debatable. As the commission's fifth report said, "Selling under compulsion of the budgetary timeframe encourages investors to bid at lower prices."<br><br>There seems to be much economic logic in the statement. But reports don't always dictate actions. For the Government, especially on the eve of elections, political expediency precedes economic logic.<br></p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Feb 9, 1998</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></table>

economy

Economy

<table class="mceVisualAid" style="margin-right: 8px;" align="left" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3"><tbody><tr><td class="mceVisualAid"><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo_090312095301.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div></div><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo1_090312095225.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div></div><br><div align="center"><b>Murasoli Maran (left) resisted </b><b>G.V. Ramakrishna's<br>moves but was forced to give in at times</b><br></div></td></tr></tbody><p>Ever since it was reduced to a caretaker government on November 28, the United Front (UF) has done little other than harp on the need to continue with the reforms programme. So when it issued a notification curtailing the powers of the Disinvestment Commission last week, it seemed rather out of sync.</p><p>The one-and-a-half page order issued by the Department of Public Enterprises limited the commission's role to that of an advisory body, removing from its terms of reference the responsibility to regularly monitor progress and supervise the implementation of its recommendations. In other words, the Government did not want the commission to build pressure on the disinvestment issue.<br><br>"It is a negative move," says well-known economist and commission member Suresh Tendulkar. "The Government did not want to be pushed into taking decisions." Commission Chairman G.V. Ramakrishna, who has also been on the offensive till now, has called a board meeting on February 13 to debate the notification.</p><p>That many of the commission's recommendations have not gone down well with the Government is known. For example, of the 34 cases of public-sector undertakings (PSUs) considered till date, the commission has prescribed complete privatisation in 11 cases, partial privatisation in 11 others and has put off disinvestment in seven of them - in most cases, till sectoral reforms take place.</p><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo-steps3_090312114538.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div></div></p><p>The 11 PSUs, in which a complete sale of equity or assets has been recommended, include Modern Foods, Pawan Hans Helicopters, NEPA Ltd, Pyrites Phosphates and Chemicals and Hotel Corporation of India, which owns the Centaur chain. There are more than 18,000 employees in these units.</p><p>The Government has been under pressure from this workforce not to accept the commission's recommendations as complete privatisation would mean retrenchment of a sizeable number of employees. </p><p>In fact, 2,317 employees of Modern Foods, the first company chosen for 100 per cent disinvestment, had threatened to go an an indefinite strike if the Government went ahead with the privatisation plan. </p><div class="itemcenter"><iframe scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="62" awidth="320" aheight="62" amplayout="fixed" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014" class="preferred-source-banner" loading="lazy"></iframe></div><style>.preferred-source-banner{  margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}</style></p><p>The commission's grouse is that its suggestions are not being taken seriously. In its fourth report submitted to the Government in August, it spoke of how four of its six policy suggestions were in cold storage. </p><p>So were eight of its nine recommendations on corporate governance. To make matters worse, the commission claimed that the Government hadn't deemed it fit to even inform it on the status of its recommendations.</p><p>The fifth report, released in November, took off from where the fourth had left and wanted a time limit for ministries to accept its recommendations. It pointed out that despite five reports, the disinvestment fund had not become operational, an effective voluntary-retirement scheme was yet to be introduced and there was no move to professionalise PSU boards. </p><p>In every report, the commission has been emphasising that its recommendations should be accepted in full so that the Government gets the maximum benefit from the sale of public-sector shares.</p><div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo-steps-sml_090312114603.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div><div class="clicktoenlarge" style="width:200px;margin-right:15px text-align:center" valign="bottom"><a href="#" onclick="javascript:window.open('https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F1998February%2Ftwo-steps-lrg_090312114603.jpg','window','status=no,resize=no,toolbar=no,scrollbars=no,width=500,height=553'); return false;" rel="dofollow">Click here to Enlarge</a></div></div></p><p>As these reports were being made public, the Industry Ministry could ill-afford to ignore the commission's recommendations. For example, the first report had recommended greater financial and operational autonomy for PSUs based on their performance.</p><p>It was only after this that Industry Minister Murasoli Maran came out with his list of <i>navaratnas</i> - the nine prized PSUs - granting them more autonomy. However, this list did not include the names of Gas Authority of India Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which had been identified by the commission for the select status. By highlighting this in its subsequent reports, the commission managed to get the names of these two enterprises on the list.</p><p>To review the guidelines governing the functioning of PSUs, the ministry also set up a committee under N. Vittal, chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board, last May. Following its recommendations, the ministry had by the year-end, deleted 696 of the 892 guidelines. </p><p>More recently, it has been debating the possibility of setting up a pre-investigation board, as suggested by the commission, to scrutinise the commercial decisions of PSUs so as to avoid undue harassment in the hands of the vigilance authorities.</p><p>This game of one-upmanship between the commission and the ministry notwithstanding, PSU reforms were beginning to take shape. But the political turmoil at the Centre changed all that. With the UF becoming a caretaker, the Left parties, supported by the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), mounted their opposition to the commission. </p><p>Even the notification curtailing the powers of the commission does not seem to have appeased them. Says CITU Secretary Tapan Sen: "It is not enough. The commission will continue with its misdeeds. We want the whole thing scrapped." In their election manifestos, the Left parties are emphatic about reviving sick companies and completely doing away with divestment of PSUs.<br><br>While that may be far-fetched, the fact remains that in the absence of pressure from the commission, the whole process of divestment will slow down and the reforms programme will suffer. That profitability in the public sector is dismal cannot be debated. </p><p>According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the net profit earned by Central government companies on the total capital employed is a mere 2.3 per cent. </p><table style="margin-left: 8px; background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);" align="right" border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" height="28" width="213"><tbody><tr><td style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><b>The new order is said to have been prompted by demands of trade unions. </b><br></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>That in the case of the private sector is 8.1 per cent. Also, as the latest report of the Reserve Bank of India points out, 101 out of the total 243 public-sector enterprises in the country continue to make losses. This being the case, the commission felt its push for divestment of government shares was justified.</p><p>But ironically till date the Government's disinvestment efforts have not been based on improving public-sector profitability. On the contrary, the aim is to mop up money to plug budgetary shortfalls. Ramakrishna, who has been opposing this, says the sale proceeds should flow into a fund which could be used to revitalise other PSUs and make them more sale worthy. But his suggestion has gone unheeded. This could have a bearing on the money realised from the sale of shares.<br><br>In the past few years, the Government has not succeeded in realising its disinvestment targets. Even in the current year, it had set a target of getting Rs 7,000 crore but till date only Rs 940 crore has come in from the sale of MTNL shares. </p><p>An additional Rs 250 crore may come in from the sale of the shares of Container Corporation of India. Whether the shares are getting their real value is debatable. As the commission's fifth report said, "Selling under compulsion of the budgetary timeframe encourages investors to bid at lower prices."<br><br>There seems to be much economic logic in the statement. But reports don't always dictate actions. For the Government, especially on the eve of elections, political expediency precedes economic logic.<br></p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Feb 9, 1998</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></table>

The reforms programme suffers a setback as political compulsions force the Government to drastically reduce the powers of the Disinvestment Commission.

India Today

Two steps backwards - India Today

Political compulsions force govt to reduce powers of Disinvestment Commission

Two steps backwards

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the International Kite Festival 2026 at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Gujarat's Ahmedabad. Both the leaders were seen flying huge tricolour kites. Merz is on his first official visit to India, as New Delhi and Berlin look to step up cooperation across strategic, economic and security sectors. The trip followed their PM Modi's meeting with Merz on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, where both leaders agreed to widen the bilateral strategic partnership, with the Prime Minister extending a formal invitation for the visit.

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This bulletin covers the escalating standoff between the Enforcement Directorate and West Bengal state authorities, following a raid at the residence of IPAC director Pratik Jain. The ED has sought a CBI probe, alleging obstruction by the Chief Minister and top police officials during the investigation into the coal scam and suspected money laundering, involving proceeds exceeding 2742 crore rupees. The ED claims that over 100 police personnel accompanied senior officials to the raid site, where they allegedly removed seized devices. Further, the ED has pointed to planned disruptions in the High Court by TMC supporters, coordinated via WhatsApp. As legal proceedings continue, parallel investigations by Kolkata police are underway, with witnesses being summoned from the residential complex. The outcome of imminent court hearings could shape the ongoing inquiry.

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Political compulsions force govt to reduce powers of Disinvestment Commission

The reforms programme suffers a setback as political compulsions force the Government to drastically reduce the powers of the Disinvestment Commission.

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