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SCOPE brings hope for dying PSUs

The Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, an apex body of public sector units, has strongly advocated largescale reforms in all PSUs to remedy the "indifferent approach of bureaucrats and managers."

It recommended setting up an independent "public sector development fund" to help out loss-making PSUs.

Discussing the present issues confronting the 250-odd PSUs, including the 110 profit-making ones, SCOPE Chairman Uddesh Kohli, who is also the chairman and managing director of the Power Finance Corporation, said in a liberalised environment where the government has only a regulatory role, the quality of corporate governance is of prime importance for the efficient operation of public enterprises.

Referring to a paper on Corporate governance and business ethics, prepared by the SCOPE, Dr Kohli criticised successive Union governments for the way they ran PSUs.

He suggested setting up a public sector development fund to deal with each of the country's 104-odd loss-making units. The main corpus of such a fund would come from the government disinvestment board and other supporting units, Dr Kohli said.

About the importance of the board-managed PSUs, Dr Kohli, who was accompanied by SCOPE director U K Dikshit and general secretary M A Hakim, said the solution was to remove interference by the government. The government agencies should have no role to play in the affairs of public enterprises, Dr Kholi said.

Referring to the growing number of contract labour in various PSUs, Dr Kholi expressed concern at the recent change in the law, and said it seriously affected cost effectiveness.

Dr Kholi and Hakim pointed out that the net profit of central PSUs has risen to Rs 102.58 billion during 1996-97 from Rs 95.74 billion in the previous year. The gross sales during the period had increased by about four per cent, and their contribution to the national exchequer by a whopping 21.27 per cent.

Earlier, chief executives, directors and senior executives of the 60 public sector units in the eastern region attended a meeting convened by SCOPE to discuss their problems. The problems faced by the 45-odd loss-making PSUs, some of which had been referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, also came up for discussion, Dr Kholi said.

UNI