Govt institutions need to be reinvented: FM

Calling for reconstruction of the existing government institutions and greater private participation in development of the economy, Union finance minister P Chidambaram said that deconstruction and reinvention would enable these institutions to work better.

Speaking at Satyam's leadership roundtable on 'Building world-class institutions "� Opportunities and challenges', Chidambaram said, "Most of the basic amenities, whether it is healthcare, education or even basic infrastructure, is delivered by public authorities today. Many of these institutions need to be reinvented. Institutions that are working better than before, like the Election Commission, prove that it is possible to make government institutions work better."

Calling for greater private participation, Chidambaram said that in order to enhance the skills training programme, the government had taken up a massive upgradation of 500 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).

"Around 100 are being run on the PPP (public-private partnership) model. However, for 400 others we do not have any takers from the private sector. We have, therefore, been forced to look at foreign agencies for their upgradation," he added.

Giving cues on how private sector participation can be assured, Chidambaram said that profit, whether immediate or long-term, was required to attract capital.

"We must make a distinction between capital and charity," he said, adding that to build roads in Gujarat, bidders themselves were now willing to infuse capital because they expect good returns.