Sir — This refers to the article, “From maharaja to pauper for sale” (July 3) by Vinayshil Gautam. The writer has rightly criticised the functioning of loss-making public sector-controlled airline, Air India, due to political interference, VIP culture and non-professional management. Day-to-day bureaucratic and political interference makes Government-run units unviable compared to autonomous, private-run organisations.
We had public sector units run by the Government in the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s in different States and most of them are now closed due to mishandling of politically backed up units working under the Government. Precision instrument factory and other textile and sugar corporations were established in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s which failed to run in profit and ultimately most of them had to be closed or sold to private sector companies. The same needs to be done with Air India to avoid waste of public money.