& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Waiting for the Doctor
A conference, held in the city Monday, has sought to inject some badly-needed energy into government efforts to breath life into 40,000 industrial units identified as being "sick" Organised by the Inter-Association Sick Industries Rehabilitation Council (IAS1RC), the conference blamed policies of past governments and non-cooperation of banks and other lending institutions as prime causes of these private sector ventures falling sick Speakers claimed that 90 per cent of those ventures had fallen into non-profitability and debt for reasons "beyond their control", and demanded that the government should delay no further in embarking on an action programme to revive these units. Although the government-sponsored Sick Industries Revival and Rehabilitation Cell (SIRRC) has put forward a number of recommendations which seem quite appropriate for the purpose by the IASIRC. the government has yet to respond favourably to them and it is doubtful If the government would implement all its recom-menaatlons, particularly those relating to import restrictions.
The need for an urgent solution to the sick industries problem is a universally accepted one. and the government itself has taken a number of steps to deal with the problem including setting up of the SIRRC and an industrial commission What the government is vet to do is take concrete actions which would affect sick industries directly That seems to be the crux of the problem, as far as the owners of the sick units are concerned. However, to suggest that "somebody else" was responsible tor the Tailure of all these industries to succeed is perhaps stretching it a little too far No doubt government policies, bureaucratic corruption, malpractices by banks etc had a lot to do with the poor business climate that existed in the recent past, but we would be foolish indeed if we discarded out of hand the possibility that some, if not many, of these units went sick because of managerial or entrepreneurial shortcomings. Some may not have even been bonafide ventures, while others may have been turned into sick units deliberately either to evade tax or furnish excuses for defaulting on loan re-payrnents.
Having said that, the number of industries which went sick for "reasons beyond their control" may well constitute an overwhelming majority of the 40,000 and the government has to identify these genuine sick units. Not only that, the government has to decide, through a thorough survey conducted by competent professional people, which of these sick industries actually have a sound market prospect, since many may have turned sick because the previous administration might have given them licences and loans for business without proper feasibility studies. It is these units, which have a genuine prospect for survival and nourishment, which ought to be targeted for rehabilitation. Any effort to bracket all the 40.000 together may turn out to be not only an expensive affair, it may also be self-defeating. The government survey into these units should conversely try to identify any malpractice that might have taken place in loan procurement, taxpayment. book-keeping etc. Far from rehabilitation. people found engaged in such practices — thereby deceiving the public — should be dealt with in accordance with the law in a straightforward manner.
The important thing, however, is that the issue has acquired a sense of urgency, and government actions, from surveys to implementing the recommendations of the SIRRC. should also reflect that urgency. At present, owners of sick units are going through a tough time, uncertain about the future of their Investments. Government ministers are undoubtedly aware that so long as this widespread sickness persists, economic rejuvenation will remain a distant dream. The government has to take on the responsibility for reviving these units because, for one thing, its predecessor's policy was largely to blame for current state of affairs, and also because the private sector is not strong enough, as yet. to look after Itself. It is in the interest of the government and its industrial policy that action ought to be taken in this field without much delay, and action has to be characterised by a positive and pragmatic approach