Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the new economic development mantra in the country. PDP-BJP coalition Government made great media hype of the scheme when it was floated nearly two years b ack. The scheme was necessitated by growing demand for development and Government’s partly inability to cope with all the demands owing to lack of infrastructure. Therefore attention was mounted on raising, improving and extending infrastructure in as many ways as was possible. For this purpose, the Government decided to co-opt private sector and thus came into being the PPP scheme. Under this scheme, as publicized by the Government, various private entrepreneurs were expected to come forward and participate in the developmental mission of the country.
Theoretically this is all sound. But there goes the saying that the taste of pudding is in eating. The scheme never took off in its true spirit. No sign of bridging infrastructure deficit in crucial sectors is in sight and the scheme has failed to become reality despite lapse of nearly one and half year due to non-serious approach at various levels. Coalition Government has utterly failed to run the scheme and make it result oriented. At the time of floating the scheme the Finance Minister had identified 10 key sectors like roads, tourism, housing, urban development, sports, technical education, health, horticulture, industries and mining for implementation of PPP mode Moreover, the Finance Minister listed sector wise projects identified for taking up under Public Private Partnership.
All this has fizzled out and no infrastructural development has been made so far. The Government has failed to make PPP Cell in the Finance Department fully functional by deputing special manpower so as to guide and help the departments in formulation of project proposals for taking up under PPP framework. Since December 2015 only three proposals-one each from the Roads and Buildings, Tourism and Estates Departments were received by officers of the Finance Department for consideration under PPP. However, none of these proposals could be cleared for placement before the Steering Committee because of ambiguities, sources said, adding in the absence of fully functional PPP Cell these proposals have been left out.
We would impress upon the Government that PPP being a good scheme should be implemented with full interest and urgency if the gaps in our infrastructure are to be filled. There is no other way of doing that except the PPP enterprise.
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