Dr. Manmohan Singh had never intervened when the Air India staff went on strike demanding better wages and he hardly spoke a word to suggest as how the Public Sector airlines could be saved from the financial crunch. But the Prime Minister’s swift reaction when Vijay Mallya, the owner of Kingfisher sounded alarm has revealed his neoliberal mindset. His statement “…we have to find ways and means to help them get out of the process” would show his penchant for the private players vis-à-vis the public sector in the civil aviation industry. It is bizarre to see as how the Prime Minister and his ministerial colleagues are mulling over to bail-out the Kingfisher, when they had callously turned a Nelson’s eye when thousands of farmers were committing suicides in the country. What would happen if Kingfisher is bailed out is anybody’s guess. Other private players in the aviation industry like Spice jet, Indigo and Air Sahara might follow suit, draining out a huge chunk of taxpayers’ money. It could be a similitude to the housing bubble which pushed the U.S. into the lap of economic recession.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin
Kadapa, A.P.