Dear Pragya,
I must congratulate you for bringing in such a nice presentation.
Don't mind about some opposition by shortsighted critics, who are unable to anticipate the dangers of such happenings in India, which in turn is not only enlarging the class of sycophants but also ruining the work culture. These things are a must to educate the masses and particularly the HR personnel a few of whom with closed eyes are just endorse the foolish plans of the bosses to unnecessarily burden the budget of the organization with overstaffing it with creation of unnecessary cadres.
Irrespective of whether it is reposted or adapted from some other presentation, it really is applicable in the Indian scenario. It does not apply only on companies/ corporations, but also applies in Government organizations. The top bosses in the Government when unable to handle the work of their department get their departments converted in to corporations without disbanding the department or reducing their staff. Example of Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) earlier named as, Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU), of Delhi is not an example of the past. Very recently (1999-2001), when the Top bosses of the DESU found themselves unable to face the wrath of the common public of Delhi due to their inefficient handling of the electric supply they were able to transfer the DESU operations and assets virtually free of cost to three private companies. In order to private the affairs of the Six ‘shell’ companies were registered, viz. a Holding Company, a Generating Company, a Transmission Company and three distribution companies. These would become successor entities of DVB on operationalisation of the Transfer Scheme. But since the bosses decided to remain still in controlling position they kept the Transmission company under their control. Not only that another top boss was also created in the name and style of “Delhi Electric Regulatory Commission.” But the result, this summer the havoc was created by these distributing companies by power cut of almost 10 to 12 hours a day.
The Public sectors go on adding with the existence of the original departments leading to waste of public money collected through taxes. Another example is of the erstwhile very efficiently running P&T Department under the Ministry of Communications. The department was at first bifurcated in to two departments, Postal and Telecom Departments. The idea was mooted by the Telecom Engineers, as they felt that the Telecom Wing of the Department was earning the money while the Postal Wing was spending that. After bifurcation (1974), the services of postal department, being a poor department, started deteriorating from next day delivery of articles basis, (three deliveries a day) to 7 to 10 days in reaching destination with a casually organized one delivery a day today. This resulted in to flourishing of the private courier services. Now the position is that the Postal department is running in to loss every year in spite of a well established huge infrastructure throughout India, while all the courier services are making huge profits without any proper infrastructure of theirs extending beyond even a few major cities. Public service of the public service department is now a dream for the public of India. Who is at fault?
The story of Telecom Department (DOT) is much more interesting. After separating from the Postal Department, although the revenue and profits of the Department of Telecom also belonged to the Government of India, but to show more revenue of the Finance Ministry and lessen the budget deficits before the eyes of the innocent public, revenue starved Government tried to convert profits of the DOT in to the shape of Corporate Tax. So, as a trial basis Government proposed to convert two major revenue garnering Telecom Districts of Bombay and Delhi in to a corporation named as the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), a PSU under the Telecom Department. The aim was that nobody would raise an eyebrow on the act of corporatization, as it will show a huge revenue jump of the Ministry of Finance in the shape of corporate Tax from the existing huge profit earning Telephone Districts of the DOT. The stated corporation started functioning from 01.04.1986. The result, a new Corporate office with total new recruitment right from the CEO level to down below; hire of new building for corporate office, purchase of total furniture, fixtures and equipments for corporate office, Purchase of a huge block of vehicles, purchase of abandoned Flats of the Asiad Games Village of the Asiad Games of 1972 with huge amount ore than the market value and conversion of the same in to a guest house spending a lot of money; Spending of audit fees by engagement of two more audit companies for audit of accounts and the Tax audit purposes other than the existing audit of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG); bla, bla, bla.
With effect from the same date from which the MTNL was carved out of DOT, Overseas Communications Wing, another organization of the DOT which was handling the functions of the overseas communications, was also converted in to a PU named as “Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd” and later on sold to TATA communications.
After that, although the DOT already had its huge research wing in the name of the Telecom Research Centre (TRC), a few of the bosses got the idea of creating another autonomous research centre in the name of Telecom Research Centre Society by declaring t existing TRC as the technical organization, even when the existing TRC was mockingly nicknamed by several Telecom Officers, as Telecom Recreation Centre. The proposed TRC Society was created in 1989.
Not only that the rest of the communications operations of the DOT were also converted I 2000 in to another corporation, which everybody knows it in the name of “Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)” repeating all those things with huge expenses of the new corporate office that happened on creation of MTNL. Needless to mention that the said Units of the BSNL could well be merged with the existing PSU of MTNL without incurring any extra expenditure of setting up a separate corporate office of BSNL. The public will see that a time will come when for grabbing higher posts the existing bosses will propose separate corporations at all the state levels, which they now call Telecom Circles.
But, in spite of shedding all its functions by creation of two separate corporate bodies, what happened to the Directorate of Department of Telecom (DOT) the controlling body of the Telecom? NOTHING! The same still exists, as a super boss with its huge paraphernalia and a big army of big bosses, including the Telecom Board. Strangely enough, another top boss was created in the name and big structure of “Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.”
Since, in a PSU there is no stake of any of the Board members in its equity and they are frequently replaced on retirement after a very short service that being at the fag end of their service, nobody cares for the sustenance of the PSUs with the result the PSUs start becoming sick and ultimately the Government after wasting huge Taxpayers money either close of sell in pennies.
So, rather than criticizing the presentation the management should take lesson from the concept of the “RACE” and be alert to restrain the top echelon taking undue advantage of the situations. Mind it Taxpayers hard earned money is not meant to waste on the leisure and comforts of the inefficient bosses.
P S Dhingra
Vigilance & Change Management Consultant