A bold look at India’s corrupt PSU culture vis-à-vis Air India

THE DESCENT OF INDIA into political sycophancy was complete in Air India. But that a foreign-based publisher like Bloomsbury should toe the line and withdraw a book on the monolith, that too in its second edition, is perhaps unprecedented in publishing history. The book in question, The Descent of Air India by Jitender Bhargava, is an insider’s account of the plague that has been eating at the entrails of this giant PSU. It’s another matter though that the book has already been read by the public and has acted as a stamp of authority on what they had known all along.

Bhargava, a former executive director of Air India for 13 years, has pointed out the ills that tolled the death knell for most PSUs—unionism, political interference, executive supineness, failure to take action and stay relevant in the changing business dynamics, among other things.

The fall of the Maharaja has been quite dramatic. From being a near monopoly to being reduced to a loss making entity competing with low-cost carriers, its decimation has been complete. Bhargava exposes the systemic rot that set in the 1970s and the stink of which started spreading in the 1990s. He blames the airline’s nosedive into self-destruction on the lack of vision displayed by the government and its successive bosses, employees, babus and the India Inc heads who graced as voiceless independent board members.

Undeniably, Air India failed to embrace the changing market economy of opening skies. As Bhargava outlines, while boards were formed and bureaucrat puppet CMDs with limited or no vision were brought to helm it, the need of the hour was for professionals with the sky as their vision. Basically, Air India failed to transit into a corporate culture remaining stuck in the bureaucratic red tape regime and that proved to be its undoing.

Air India had too many things going downhill, including an ill-conceived merger with Indian Airlines, purchase of overpriced Boeings, etc. Its employees and unions only gave it a further shove. Employees had little pride in the Maharaja who had become the handmaiden of the political classes. From VIP reservations in flights to ground jobs, Air India was a caged bird. Assured of permanent jobs, the staff could afford to play their own power games. The Maharaja was but a pawn. Despite its failings, The Descent is a bold book and Bhargava’s audacity in exposing the corruption in high places must be appreciated. Of course, he is not absolved of the blame as he has been part of the process for many years. He does try to show that he took corrective measures to stem the rot in his own way. It is a sad commentary then on the moral fabric of the nation that instead of booking the bad, we ‘ban’ the book.