The poor health of state-owned undertakings in J&K is a cause of concern. Of the 20 PSUs in J&K, only six are profit-making, while 14 are in red. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its previous report dispelled a widely held or promoted notion that ‘careless approach of workers/employees is responsible for the losses’. Instead the CAG put the blame at the doors of the management of PSUs. “The losses are mainly attributable to deficiencies in financial management, planning, implementation of projects, running their operations and monitoring,” the CAG report said. Interestingly, the report opined that the losses incurred by the PSUs to the tune of Rs 226 crore in 2010-11 could have been controlled with better management. Instead of taking corrective measures to retrieve the PSUs in red, the government seems on path to bloat their list. The J&K Cements Limited, so far a self-sustaining corporation, could turn one to be waiting on wings to enter the unenvied list, should the government fail to rise to the occasion and take measures essential for protecting this corporation go belly-up. The alarm in no way should be taken as an exaggeration as we have the example of once flourishing J&K Industries Limited or for that matter the J&K State Road Transport Corporation before us. It is quite dismal to learn that the JKCL has been beset with techno-fiscal problems and its production has seen steep fall. Poor planning and government neglect have downgraded the manufacturing corporation into a trading unit. This indeed is not good for the health of the corporation. If the reports are to be believed the corporation, which has two plants comprising two kilns each, is facing 35 per cent decline in production in its new plant, while its old plant has turned largely “sick”. A committee on PSUs in J&K earlier constituted by the government had recommended the state to be the "principal development agent" operating through owned enterprises and intervening in labour, capital and product markets. Perhaps this is the time government seriously mulls on these recommendations before the rot becomes irreversible.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 10 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST