<b>T N Ninan: </b>Be careful what you wish for

It isn't enough to say the public sector can't deliver, so let the private sector handle it

The India of the 1980s and 1990s had many dreams: private TV by satellite or cable, instead of drab old Doordarshan with its government propaganda; modern corporate hospitals that looked like hotels, just like those in America; world-class highways built by private construction companies and not by the CPWD (central public works department); and efficient, privately-run power stations that would give the state electricity boards a run for their money. We also wanted private phone services, and flight services that were better than what Indian Airlines could offer. We wondered why we couldn’t get passports in days, rather than weeks