Privatisation phobia

The common man generally has the picture of a businessman as a fly-by-night operator, unworthy of his trust. Admittedly, there have been enough reasons for that. And, that's why he wants the government to do everything for him.

But, what has happened over the years is that not only is the government not in a position to build its capacity to cater to these varied needs, but also it is progressively beginning to get hijacked by various lobbies to serve their vested interests, most often in collusion with the babu-neta combo.

Simultaneously, the businessman has evolved into a corporate entity with a certain brand identity, which he will do everything to safeguard lest his standing in the market drop below comfortable levels. This market mechanism is certainly not quite perfect, but has atleast helped throw up enough business houses who can today be relied upon to take on the erstwhile government roles. I would even go to the extent of saying that services such as public bus transport, power supply are too vital infrastructure services not to have the benefit of their management skills and technical expertise.