Page 115 - EW JAN 2022

Postscript

Captured corporation contemporary India’s glaring wealth inequalities and the
sorry condition of the poor majority.
Unsurprisingly, this topsy-turvy conclusion of WIR
ATEST PROOF THAT THE COUNTRY’S PARASIT- 2022 has been seized upon by the country’s left-liberals
ICAL public sector enterprises (PSEs) are dragging and closet commies who continue to dominate the
Lthe economy down is provided by a recent report of academy and media, despite India’s communist parties
the comptroller and attorney general of India (CAG ) on having been utterly demolished in national and state
Indian Railways which boasts the world’s largest number elections. Op-ed columns of newspapers are flooded with
of employees (1.6 million). According to the CAG report learned essays blaming capitalism and ‘crony capitalism’
published last month, to conceal its miserable operational in particular. For these obsolete intellectuals more
performance, IR has been indulging in blatant “window- socialism is the panacea for reducing 21st century India’s
dressing”. glaring wealth/income disparities.
In the pre-pandemic year 2019-20, against the target Curiously, media commentators often sporting
of 95 percent this monopoly corporation’s operating impressive academic credentials, seldom advocate
ratio (expenditure as a percentage of revenue) was universal high quality primary-secondary education
actually 98.44 percent, and over four years ending as the best leveler. This despite easy availability of a
2017-18 its revenue surplus decreased by more than 66 mountain of evidence testifying that no nation in global
percent — from Rs.4,913 crore in 2016-17 to Rs.1,665.61 history has succeeded in accumulating financial capital
crore, which means that this monopoly has no surplus without first developing its human capital. A sombre
left for capital expenditure in track, rolling stock and revelation of the quality of our public intellectuals and
infrastructure. media pundits.
The plain truth disguised under high-sounding
rhetoric about IR running 11,000 trains per day which
are the lifeline of the Indian economy, is that like most Disturbing memories
PSEs which are bleeding the economy dry, this megacorp
has been captured by its 1.6 million employees. The CAG RACKS ARE BEGINNING TO SHOW ON THE
report notes that against the revenue target of Rs.216,935 impressive facade of the Bangalore-based Think
crore incorporated in the Union Budget 2019-20, the C& Learn Pvt. Ltd, better known as the proprietor
corporation earned a mere Rs.174,694 crore. company of Byju’s, the heavily advertised online tutorials
However, IR spares no expense on the welfare of its app which can be accessed through all Internet connected
current and former employees. Its pension bill is an digital devices, including India’s 870 million cell phones.
astonishing Rs.51,000 crore per year and former and cur- The rapid transformation of Byju’s into one of India’s
rent employees enjoy almost limitless heavily subsidised most valuable companies (market cap $21 billion or
travel on the nationalised railway. Rail tickets are never Rs.157,500 crore) is attracting increasing criticism,
available on demand because on any given day 33 percent especially in social media. According to critics, the
of IR passengers are current or former employees. company’s sustained high decibel TV and social media
Moreover, a proposal to allow private companies to ad campaigns featuring Bollywood and test cricket stars
rent IR tracks to run private trains — which would aug- who cheerfully invite children to sign up for initial free
ment the corporation’s annual revenue substantially — tuitions, are actually data gathering allurements. The
has repeatedly been sabotaged by IR’s comfy employees. next step is for the company’s heavily incentivised sales
That would be against the principles of socialism. tele-callers to pull out all stops to persuade parents to
sign up for long-term tutorials by generating fomo (fear of
Education blindspot missing out) apprehension in parents and children.
Parents pleading unaffordability are offered
installment payment facilities and surreptitiously
HE WORLD INEQUALITY REPORT 2022 OF THE connected with non-banking finance firms with hard-
Paris-based World Inequality Lab, of which best- knuckled loan recovery agents. Competitive firms
Tseller French economist Thomas Piketty (Capital in (White Hat, Edurite, toppr, Akash FIIT-JEE etc) have
the 21st Century) is a prime mover, highlights that India’s been bought out while a charmed circle of investors
richest 1 percent elite own 22 percent of national income/ continuously drives up the company’s valuation.
wealth, and the richest 10 percent owns 57 percent. Meanwhile a growing number of dissatisfied parents are
The obvious conclusion one would derive from such flooding social media with complaints about connectivity
grave income disparities between the rich and poor 75 and/or lacklustre tutorials.
years after political independence from foreign rule, is The rising tide of criticism of India’s most valuable
that adoption of the socialist model defined by promotion unicorn arouses disturbing memories of some other
of over 800 white elephant Central and state public sector game-changing ICT (information communication
enterprises (PSEs), and a 20 million-strong neta-babu technologies) enterprises which have disappeared into the
(politician-bureaucrats) brotherhood utterly corrupted woodwork. For instance in 2011, Tutor Vista purchased
by a discretionary licence-permit-quota regimen to by multinational education behemoth Pearson Plc for
control-and-command private industry and all economic $127 million left the London-based company red-faced
activity, has failed. Instead, WIR 2022 blames the with an expensive lemon. Earlier there was Educomp
economic liberalisation and deregulation initiative of Solutions whose equity share price topped Rs.5,000 in
1991 and subsequent sputtering economic reforms for 2008. Caveat emptor!

114 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2022