In the current row about the TN government’s proposal to take over MSOs, the two mattais (the DMK and the ADMK) resemble nothing more than two brawling street urchins (“avan mattum …”, “nee mattum …”, “did too”, “did not”, …). It does not matter who struck first and who struck worst, it only matters that these squabbles distract from more important issues.
While opinions in the news magazines by readers express the hope that this will end the ‘deep distress’ and ‘untold misery’ (in other words, inability to watch stupid cricket matches) caused by CAS, I have not heard anyone question whether the business of government is to run every (allegedly errant) business itself. This government did this before with sand quarrying and TASMAC, and seems to building on that experience. Doesn’t this only indicate that the government itself does not believe that it can perform its role as a regulatory authority, ensuring fair trade practices and a level playing ground? When it can not do that, how can it run a business well, being responsive to consumers and adaptive to changing technology?
The lack of concerted opposition to these efforts only indicates that the Nehruvian “nationalization good, privatization bad” mentality is still wide-spread among us.
Either that, or we do not want to be seen as one more street urchin joining the fray.
