In
this face-to-face with the Union Minister for Shipping, Ved Prakash
Goyal, The DayAfter Editor-in-Chief Sunil Dang and Think Tank
Director Yogendra Bali, asked some pointed questions about the future
of shipping in India. The Minister, who was among some of the most
successful industrialists in India before he took on political
responsibility to serve his party and the country according to his
ideals and ideology, gave sharp, crisp and pointed answers. The crux
was that he hoped to modernise the shipping infrastructure and
expected a 10 per cent increase in exports as the end result. Here are
selected excerpts:
When asked to explain his agenda and plans for the
ministry he was captaining and the connected undertakings and
corporates, V. P. Goyal said frankly: "I go with a vision and not with
a programme." That explained a key part of his personality and
approach to progress and modernisation.
He underlined that his vision was the same as that
of the President of India, A. P. J. Kalam, "The second vision."
He elaborated: "India shall be an important player
in global shipping. It means it shall be competitive at the global
level both in shipping and shipbuilding and all related services. We
are on the task."
As the Minister elaborated, he also tried to
demonstrate that a good programme followed a good vision. How can we
be global? That was possible only with an all-out improvement and
modernisation programme which had been launched all over the country.
All concerned had been asked to come forward with their proposals and
a bold target of 10 per cent growth in exports had been set.
He said his second step in the pursuit and
realisation of his vision was psychological. He said: "We are not like
landlords. We are a service provider. I cannot use my authority as the
landlord of the zamindari days, because you have many options when you
come as a buyer to the port. For many services which are developing
you may not have to go to the port at all. You may not necessarily go
to an Indian company. So, we are trying to bring about a change in the
mindset. Like that attitude that 'customer is my king'. Every step
should be taken to facilitate his work. For that we are taking up well
planned and extensive computerisation. This is to eliminate all that
passing of documents from place to place when the customer is told
Monday ko aao. Like we find in foreign countries, now documents
and papers will pass automatically from one point to another"
He explained: "We want to turn it into a model
industry. From the time a truck enters the gates of a port, all
information is flashed to all points. Every concerned department knows
that a truck is there and where and why it is going. The message has
gone to all concerned with loading, unloading, lifting. To save time,
which is money, we are taking all steps to remove the cargo clutter-up
at the ports. If it is known that five trucks are required for
handling a particular cargo consignment, five trucks will smoothly
enter the area, handle their consignment and move out as speedily as
possible."
The Minister agreed that all the modernisation and
smooth cargo movement plans were part of the operations to improve the
capacity, efficiency and quality of service at Indian ports. He said:
"We are building up the capacity. We are taking new equipment. We are
trying to put the private firms in competition with our own public
sector undertakings. We have JNP, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port and we
have Nava Sheva which is in the hands of the P and O Company, I told
our port people, why can't you compete with it? Give me one reason.
They are also in the same business, tell me what you want. I will give
you whatever equipment you want. We are doing that."
Asked if he had specific items on his agenda to
break with the past and build a future for shipping, he said with a
smile: "I am not the boss, I am the servant." He was trying to
emphasise that the role of his ministry and its undertakings was that
of a service provider and not a shipowner or an importer and exporter
as such. He emphasised: "Breaking mental barriers is more difficult
than breaking physical barriers. The barriers between the two Germanys
were broken only after they had mentally prepared themselves to work
together. Both benefited. Breaking these mental barriers is the first
step towards breaking those physical barriers. Even the trade unions
are beginning to understand that and they are building bridges with
us."
Sunil Dang asked what was his prediction about the
Gujarat poll? Did he believe that his party would increase its seats
in the next Gujarat poll? He said, "The exact number of seats I cannot
predict. But we shall increase the number. In other ten states too, we
will improve."