Handling a public sector and that
too remaining confined within the cloak of archaic rules and processes is no
mean task. And when the corporate in question is in the business of flying
planes, a business that can easily be termed as the mother of all businesses,
the job assumes the pinnacle of complexity.
The mother term is coined by me,
now for the second time, the first being for the lifeline of the nation that
also qualifies to fall in a similar category as the mother of all
bureaucracies.
While the essential difference
between the public and the private lies in the ownership pattern, one being
owned by the public at large and other by a private body, it is not a gospel
mandate to have differences in the way they operate. Why the public sector
cannot be allowed to operate and also prosper like the private may perhaps
always remain unanswered.
Unless and until we all and that
includes the mighty government machinery, start believing in the supremacy of
deliverance over everything else, such dilemmas would always continue. Why
process has started taking overriding precedence over deliverance in a nation
like ours that still has miles and miles to go is indeed beyond my
comprehension. A system that judges merit based on considerations that are
often poles apart from sheer deliverance can never lead a nation to glory shall
always remain my firm belief. But yes, the India of today is witnessing change
of an order never experienced in the past and that alone is the silver lining
in the dark skies.
Often my airline is questioned on
its inability to match the private sector on various operating parameters, and
this is unfortunately always done without due appreciation of the fundamental
reality that there is no level playing field. The decision making processes,
the contractual mechanisms, the checks and balances, the focus on process at the cost of deliverance and lack of clarity on the purpose or the objective are all widely different. The complex process oriented world of the public sector
is no match in front of the simple output oriented universe of the private. And
above all, “hindsight” is much less at work in the private as opposed to the
public sector.
Does it imply that the public
sector should slowly be allowed to fade away simply because of our
inability to change the ground rules and provide an almost level playing field
to it? A
course correction is the need of the hour for contrary to the general perception,
the public sector has still not lost its relevance in entirety. A mixed economy
is what a developing nation deserves for it keeps both sectors in check to the
advantage of the public.