NEW DELHI, June 2: The almost complete breakdown in communication between the industry ministry and the disinvestment commission (DC), and the ambivalent attitude adopted by the finance ministry threatens to derail public sector reforms.

Last week saw them trade charges with each other in public. First the commission said that it had been reduced to an ``abandoned baby''. The ministry replied by disowning the commission and said that the commission was behaving like a ``super ministry.'' The commission did not take this lying down, and in its third report criticised the delay in implementing its recomendations and picked holes in the public sector reforms being undertaken by the ministry. Well-placed sources in the government say that relationship between Industry Minister Murasoli Maran and commission chairman GV Ramakrishna may be at the root of the situation. They are both strong men with strong opinions. It is possible that each wanted to lead and not follow. And this, sources say, is the reason that the ministry and the commission are exchanging harsh words.

While all this can well be dismissed as speculation, the fact is that the ministry and the commission are pulling in two different directions. And this does not portend well for the public sector, the economy or the government.

When the United Front government set up the disinvestment commission in August as promised in the common minimum programme, it looked as if that public sector reforms had actually taken off. But the eight months since have seen only talk of reforms. The government has launched new initiatives to improve public sector performance and the commission has given its reccomendations for 15 PSUs, but little has changed on the ground. While government officials argue that issues like this take time, the most worrying aspect is that the government and the commission are not moving together at all.

The industry ministry has launched the scheme for giving autonomy for nine public sector units which have the potential of becoming global giants. Maran has held discussions with mid-level PSUs for a autonomy package. And the ministry has also set up a committee to review the government guidelines which govern every administrative function of public sector units. While these have been criticised for being too weak to be effective, these are all positive measures which show resolve and initiative. But all good achieved by them will be undone if the disinvestment programme does not move ahead. The commission has warned that the government's target of earning Rs 4,800 crore this year will not be met unless some urgent steps are taken.

The finance ministry has kept a studied silence on the subject. But now, there appears to be moves afoot in the North Block to blow the dust off the commission's reports and start processing them. Says a senior official, ``The government and its creation should bury their differences.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.