Well Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu has blamed the inadequacy of good institutions for the prevailing sense of hopelessness in Jammu and Kashmir, but unfortunately Finance Minister does not own the responsibility for generating the hopelessness by certain controversial decisions of the incumbent PDP-BJP government which have eroded the credibility of several public institutions of vital importance in the state. Finance Minister owes an explanation for being part of a government decision taken by the incumbent Mehbooba government for appointing political functionaries including the defeated candidates of both PDP and BJP as Vice chairpersons of 16 ailing public sector undertakings (PSUs).At least Finance Minister Drabu can’t evade queries over his clearance to the proposal that sought the disbursement of the salaries of Vice Chairpersons of 16 PSUs from the state treasuries but not from the PSUs already facing shortage of funds even for the disbursement of salaries to their employees. The intents of the government won’t be questions if the Vice Chairpersons would have been financial analysts of repute with vast experience and expertise in the field of financial restructuring. Unfortunately the vice Chairpersons drawing a huge monthly salary of Rs 80,000 in addition to other perks and allowance don’t know even the alphabets of public financial and most of them has lost even their deposits in the last assembly elections. So the Vice Chairpersons are neither the elected representatives of the people nor the specialists in the fields of public finance. Ironically Finance Minister Drabu despite allowing the defeated candidates of PDP and BJP to draw monthly salary of Rs 80,000 for no work is talking about the incumbent government’s concerns on financial austerity and credibility of public institutions.
Talking about inadequacy of good institutions does not give a license to government to evade queries on the financial mess created by the vice chairpersons in PSUs since last ten months and government claims on invoking measures for financial austerity won’t find any takers unless and until the government does contemplate measures for offloading the liabilities created by it for just political motives.
Though Vice Chairpersons of PSUs are about to complete on year in office but none from the government including the Finance Minister himself would dare to talk about the indications of financial revival the ailing PSUs are showing under the leadership of PSU Vice Chairpersons. Ironically the government of which Finance Minister Drabu is a part appointed the Director Of Indian System of Medicines (ISM) as director of one of key corporations namely Horticulture, Produce Marketing Corporation but fortunately the state high court came to the rescue of the corporation and stayed the appointment of an ISM director as Managing Director of the corporations. A government appointment an ISM doctor as Managing Director of a corporation speaks volumes about the government intents on the revival of the credibility of institution and reviving the financial health of the ailing public sector undertakings (PSUs). One simple question people can ask the Finance Minister is that how can government align its policy decisions to the social choices of the people when the public sector undertakings (PSUs) obliged to take care of the social obligations of the government have been turned into rehabilitation centres for defeated candidates of the ruling political parties. Talking about inadequacy of good institutions does not give a license to government to evade queries on the financial mess created by the vice chairpersons in PSUs since last ten months and government claims on invoking measures for financial austerity won’t find any takers unless and until the government does contemplate measures for offloading the liabilities created by it for just political motives.
