The telecom crisis: Noises off

'The last thing Narendra Modi needs at this time are TV images of telecom employees on dharna for losing their jobs', says the author

The prospect of possible jail time for Anil Ambani for defaulting on payment to a creditor understandably dominated the business headlines most of Wednesday. Less noticed is another telecom crisis that has thrust itself upon, not the private sector nor the courts but the taxpaying public. Over the past week, MTNL and BSNL have each sent their owner, the Government of India, an SOS seeking a bailout — the second request in six years.

The demands, which festered through most of 2018, are remarkable because they reflect gross mismanagement at taxpayer’s expense — and they now require taxpayer money to bail