Disinvestment push: Why India needs to provide a robust legal shield to its bureaucrats

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a spirited push in Parliament for ‘a bigger role for the private sector in the economy’. But when it comes to privatisation — the ‘P’ word clearly mentioned by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her latest budget — even as the list of prospective public sector undertakings (PSUs) under the hammer gets longer, it has been a no-show for nearly 20 years. Potential bidders will tell you in private