A P Flood Relief.

“Uncle, you know we are collecting relief material for the flood victims, on behalf of St. Francis College. You should not disappoint me. I am the team leader. So please announce your donation.”
“Satya, Congrats. You are doing a good job. You need not ask for my donation. You may write it down yourself. Take whatever you want, provisions, clothes etc from here, and give them to these needy.”
“Oh. No uncle. I thought you would announce a good donation of one lakh. I was so sure. That’s why I came along with my class mates. It is a loss of face for me.
You are a public sector employee, drawing decent salary. See How APIIC, APSRTC, AP Genco, AP Trans Co & DCCBs have announced liberal donations to CMRF? Be generous uncle!”
“Yes Satya, you are right. But give me a few minutes. Lend me your ears, and of your friends’ too.”
Satya and her friends sat around uncle in a semicircle, intent to hear.
Uncle started. “See, all of you are students of economics, and management. Am I right?”
“Yes uncle. You are right.”
“Then this is a relevant matter. I think in case of aid or relief, the fund flow or aid flow should be from the un-affected, and less affected to the most affected. Right?
When you are already a pauper, and trying to extend generous help to other paupers, apart from humanitarian angle, what strikes you first?
Either of the paupers is a fake one, or both! Isn’t it? This may to mobiles some public opinion in their favour, to get a better mileage to them in this chaos. That’s what I feel!.

As students of management and economics, you should be well aware of this phenomenon.
Some time back, the state government has thought of scrapping, or merging, or selling off some of these loss making PSUs, and thus get rid of the white elephants. And APIIC, and AP Genco are among them.
AP Genco is yet to make profits, though it sells power to AP Transco, another PSU. But Transco doesn’t pay its dues to Genco in time, and prefers to entertain some litigation, thereby causing losses to Genco. A Singareni colliery is also a PSU, supplies coal to Genco, but insists on immediate payment. Business rules, isn’t it?
That this Genco has to pay immediately to Sinagareni for Coal, and wait for its Sales income from Transco, which is perhaps locked up in litigation. And all these are PSUs, mind that.
Similar is the case with APIIC. It gets land allotted by UDAs and municipalities at cheaper rate, and sells it to industrialists at a fabulous rate, and in the process makes a profit. This sort of ‘easy trading’ has gone to such feverish heights that private industrialists stopped buying from APIIC, and started promoting their own SEZs.
Now, can you people explain me the fun of APIIC and AP Genco, donating liberally to CMRF? Whose funds are they donating? For whom? Govt. funds to Govt. isn’t it?
So it means that these PSUs are not at all making losses, and have surplus enough to meet such demands. Else, they are indulging in fiscal mis-management and fiscal indiscipline. Who is to blame?

Would you do the same, if your own enterprise is sinking?
It makes sense if you pay from your personal sources. But, how come, you straight away announce such donations from the company funds, when the entire funds belong to the government and you are only a trustee?
Did you ever think, how the loss making PSUs, destined to be written off, are the first to announce such aid? These top bureaucrats wanted their positions to be safe? Will no one punish them for this misadventure? Or do people forget their loss making abilities, and cheer them for this generous act?
Some time back, even in our banks, there used to be a tradition of sending New Year greetings to important customers, higher ups and colleagues. Expenses debited to the bank a/c. The expenses reached such a high level that every officer of the bank sent greetings to their BM, AGM, and DGM and so on. The GM, CGM and the MD received cart loads of greetings, from their own staff, that too at the bank’s expense!
Thereafter, instructions were issued to the staff, not to send greetings to higher ups and colleagues, but limit their greetings to important customers, and the expenses to the absolute minimum.
So, how can the govt’s balance sheet improve, if the loss making PSUs donate to CMRF?
Again the state govt has to arrange for a bigger ‘Bail out’ package to the ailing PSU.
Whose funds are being misused in this case? Of course ,of the innocent tax payers’.
When even such ‘still loss making ‘units are healthy enough to announce liberal donations to CMRF, do you think our small individual contribution makes sense?”

“No uncle. Don’t be pessimistic. Let’s not donate to CMRF. We will straight away give it to the affected villager’s thro the dist. Collector, or the MRO, or the RDO. They will distribute these items to the victims.”
“Again you are mistaken dear! If you want such doles or donations to reach the people in Alampur, or Repalle, or any other village, start collecting huge donations in kind. Say value in crores. Then give it to the authorities. They will pass on few thousands, if not few hundred (value wise) to these victims.”
“Do we have to collect crores of rupees, so as to give few hundred to the victims?”
“Yes. Have you not noticed in the print media and on the telly, about how the relief material is siphoned off? The police themselves diverted some 28 bags of rice, to their trusted dealer friend, in Warangal district.
The revenue officials, i.e. the MRO, MDO, VO etc, diverted a truck carrying blankets and clothes, to another ‘safe’ destination? Probably to the godown of the wholesalers?
So, if you can quench the thirst of these govt. officials, then you can be assured of the relief reaching the victims intact. If only the victims survive till then!
So, Satya, if you are sure of sure of surmounting these obstacles, the carry on. I am giving you a blank cheque. You can buy blankets, bread, utensils etc, from ‘BigBazar,’ and hand it over to the officials at Exhibition grounds straight away. If only you are sure of the end result.
So, stop…think…proceed and good luck.”