Battle over Balco

Battle over Balco

Even if the method the Centre found for disciplining the Chhattisgarh government over the Balco deal -- approaching the Supreme Court with an urgent application -- is questionable, the latter has only itself to blame for the denouement. It is one thing to take a position on disinvestment in a public sector company and quite another to disrupt the handing over of the company to the buyer. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has been on a confrontationist course ever since Sterlite emerged the winner in the bid for the public sector aluminium company. Though such a stance was surprising given the fact that the Congress concurs generally with the policy of disinvestment, it would have made sense if Jogi had relied on strong arguments and statistics to buttress his viewpoint. Far from that, he made allegations to the effect that Sterlite was favoured because of the bribe it paid to some influential person in the prime minister's Secretariat. Let alone naming the alleged recipient of the bribe, Jogi evenfailed to substantiate his charge that he was not consulted on the sale of Balco. But all this pales into insignificance when it is compared to what he did subsequently, when he allegedly incited the Balco workers to go on strike.

It was quite unusual for a chief minister, entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order, to get involved in a strike in this manner. It is doubtful if the workers would have gone on strike in the light of the assurances given by the new management that there would be no retrenchment or anti-labour policies but for the encouragement given by the state government. Failure of the state to provide protection to the workers who wanted to work amidst fears of a critical and costly component of the Balco factory getting irreparably damaged did not show the Jogi government in a good light. Naturally questions were raised whether the chief minister was using the unwary workers of Balco to settle a score with the Central government. However, the apex court's directive to the state government to refrain from cutting the supply of water and power to the company and to provide protection to the workers willing to join duty should be seen as a warning to Jogi to cease his theatrics. At the same time,whether the political leadership in the state and at the Centre realises it or not, the judicial intervention is a poor reflection of its commitment to administrative and political decorum.

It is significant that the court's order does not prevent the Chhattisgarh government from pursuing the notice it served on Balco to show cause why land allotted to the company should not be cancelled in view of its proprietorship falling into the hands of a private party. In other words, what the court seeks to prevent are only the `illegal' actions of the government. It is a question of interpretation whether the sale of Balco infringes the safety clause against alienation of tribal land in scheduled areas as contended by Jogi or not. This will hopefully be settled once and for all by the apex court, which is seized of the matter. Till then, the chief minister will do well not to stoke the flames at Balco. In fact, he should consider the court's directive as a face-saver to withdraw from his confrontationist stance.