Privatisation benefits only ruling class: Economist

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">hyderabad: "re-nationalisation of private companies that took over public sector is the new international trend that is going on silently," said economist and professor of jawaharlal nehru university jayati ghosh. in an exclusive interview to <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">the times of india</span> on tuesday, ghosh said that there were a lot of misconceptions about the private sector that needed to be dispelled.ridiculing andhra pradesh chief minister n chandrababu naidu''s statement that privatisation was the only answer to economic problems, ghosh said "the idea that we will be left behind if we do not privatise public sector units is totally false." she observed that "globalisation and privatisation benefits the ruling class and the urban middle class, who see themselves as part of a global society." she was critical of the media for ''promoting naidu''s image'' irrespective of the fact that the development indicators in andhra pradesh were worse in the recent years. "the fastrack reforms followed in ap would ultimately lead to the collapse of the state economy as it happened in argentina and brazil", she said. ghosh said that the private sector had no accountability and did not cater to the social needs of the people, especially the poor. "the private sector will not invest in non-profit making sectors and the quality of services were also not up to the mark as being perceived," she added. giving examples of ''re-nationalisation'' ghosh said that in the united states, the airport security that was privatised in the 1980s, was quietly taken over by the us government after the september 11 terrorist attacks. the us government had in fact allotted $45 billion to step up airport security and recruit more personnel as under the private management the security was not up to the mark. she gave similar examples of the california power company, the railways in the united kingdom, and the entire public sector in new zealand. </div> </div>