It does not make any sense to kill HMT watches, once the country’s pride and now an industrial heritage. It also makes no sense whatever to revive Air India, once the maharaja of the sky and now the nation’s shame
It seems the Government is settling down to doing business. Hiving off nine loss-making public sector units is apparently a good decision. There is a surprise that the largest loss-maker, Air India, is not on the list. It is also a loss to see the unit that manufactures the HMT watch — timekeeper of the nation, that brought pride to ‘made in India’ — is slated for closure.
But while deciding on the issue, we also need to be sensitive to our heritage. Everything old is not gold, but it need not be junked abruptly. At least, the decision on HMT watches calls for a review. HMT is a remembrance of an era that brought pride to this country. The nation, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is trying to re-establish the same ethos with the ‘Make in India’ campaign. HMT watches started functioning in 1961 in collaboration with the Citizen Watch Company of Japan. Wasn’t that, then, the beginning of ‘Make in India’IJ
HMT watches must not only to be preserved but also be made functional, particularly its manufacturing hand-wound and automatic watches, now a craze in the US and the West. Wouldn’t the effort then cost in monetary termsIJ It may or may not, but preserving such heritage units is beyond money considerations. It would not cost more than Rs700 crore, for one time, as against pumping in about Rs5,000 crore a year for the endless sinking pit called Air India.
We need to learn from Europe. The continent has preserved many factories that were the harbingers of industrial revolution more than three centuries ago. It is a part of industrial archaeology. Cities like Kanpur and Ahmedabad have many palatial textile units, which can be a part of that industrial heritage. The oldest salt farm in Ston in Croatia, functioning since the early 14th century, still harvests sea salt and sells it as a souvenir. While it is expensive to produce salt in the traditional way, society has maintained it for its pride.
In cooperation with Eco-heritage Task Force, an organisation, Ston invites young people from the US, South America, the Netherlands and other regions to the farm. During the ‘Gathering Salt Summer Camp’, they learn about the oldest salt farm in Europe and participate in additional educational programmes, including learning Croatian. The Ston unit is the largest salt works in the Mediterranean, processing the traditional way. It has an admission ticket of $1.76.
This is wonderful. Why cannot the ancient civilisation of India take pride in the recent pastIJ It should. Governments fail but successive Governments can do a lot. HMT, synonymous with accurate time in India, had given the Swiss a run for their money.
It changed the watch market and made Asia proud. Possibly, few know that Indira Gandhi, a Congress leader and daughter of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was the maker’s brand ambassador, shortly before the 1962 general election. If it functions, once the Government decides to pay for its losses and allows it to operate on a token basis, its hand-wound watches can fetch a minimum price of one lakh rupees in posh markets in India and the West.
Seven PSUs slated for closure have total losses of about Rs3,139 crore, Minister of State for PSUs, GM Siddheshwar has stated. In addition, Hindustan Photo Films has a loss of Rs1,561 crore and Hindustan Cables Rs885 crore. The total loss amounts to Rs5,385.
The companies to be revived as per the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction proposals, include Scooters India, Tyre Corporation and Hindustan Antibiotics. These would be revived as joint ventures with the private sector or through the route of disinvestment.
Meanwhile, what should be done about Air India, which has become a shame more than a pride for this countryIJ Those responsible for this poor state of affairs unfortunately continue to still drain the Government. Are we rewarding people for their inefficiencyIJ Possibly, the others slated for closure like HMT Bearings, Tungabhadra Steel Products, Hindustan Photo Film, Bharat Opthalmic, Bharat Yantra Nigam, Hindustan Cables and Spices Trading Corporation, were in areas where normally the Government should not have gone into. Despite that, their total losses are considered dirt in comparison to Air India’s.
Companies have a productive life. Closing them down is sensible at times. The yardstick, however, has to be the same for all: Big or small. It is not prudent to inject life-saving drugs into a dying Air India. let it die. Institutions like HMT watches have a different value. let us save HMT watches and kill Air India. It would be the most prudent decision.