I see that unfortunately some members are advocating privatization as a viable solution to the problems . Had it been so, issues like bad quality food and overcharging in contractor-managed pantry cars would not have ever existed .
I'll quote an elaborate example below regarding airport privatization from December 2023 article of the Hindu.
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more... Kerala has one Airport Authority of India (AAI)-run airport, Calicut International Airport, and three airports under public-private partnerships (PPP), including the recently privatised Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, Cochin International Airport, and Kannur International Airport.
Thiruvananthapuram airport, which made a record profit of тВ╣189 crore during the pre-pandemic period, continues to register losses despite the airport being taken over by the private concessionaire Adani Group in 2021. The airport, which garnered a revenue of тВ╣350 crore since its takeover on October 14, 2021, incurred a cumulative loss of тВ╣162.47 crore so far after the privatisation тАФ тВ╣110.15 crore in 2022-23 fiscal alone.
Calicut airport, which handles a less number of passengers compared to the Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin airports, netted a profit of тВ╣95.38 crore in 2022тАУ23. Further, among the 125 AAI-run airports in the country, Calicut airport stands third in position after Kolkata (тВ╣482.30 crore) and Chennai (тВ╣169.56 crore).
Also , all six privatised airports in the country тАФ Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati тАФ registered losses in the last fiscal.
Had privatization been a solution, all recently privatised airports would have registered profits.
Similarly, in IR , Instead of a binary profit/Loss based approach, A balanced approach - Adequate redressal of Basic issues like maintenance, staff vacancies, safety, overcrowding ; while steady implementation of new schemes ; is required.
Regular train accidents - be it freight or passenger trains, 160+ kmph capable train sets running at a cumulative average speed of 76.25 kmph (The Indian Express Article, June 2024) , are a testimony that despite small achievements in recent years , A LOT remains to be done.
Government needs to address the issues and ensure on-ground implementation rather than just selling lucrative dreams to citizens on social media.