33. Importance of Public Trust Funds

Lots of very good plans and efforts, manifesting as establishments with lofty ideals and grand legacy eventually run out of luck, go dry and die out due to lack of funds and not catching up with times.

We have seen some examples on how not catching up with times spell a dead end as in the stories of companies like kodak, blockbuster, blackberry etc.,

But if a long-standing company dies out due to lack of funds, then it cannot be looked at in the same manner as when it has outdated/expired products to sell.

It takes great care, tenacity and dedication to create and sustain a company; hence it should be difficult for such an ethical company to die too- especially if it has 10s/100s of employees and family members dependent on it. If such a company has a long-standing legacy, during which time it paid its tax dues without fail throughout its life, then the government has some kind of obligation to resuscitate it as long as it has not done anything self-harming or majorly not in line with rules and regulations.

A standard synthetic way to rescue such a dying company, is to drive arbitration to effect M&As which can lead to layoffs, monopoly and unexpected waste.

An elegant and organic way would be to create a public trust fund under an iron-clad constitution and to administer a sustaining plan for the most deserving companies/establishments. Some organizations may receive 100% funding, some may receive minimal (such as to cover operational costs only) funding and some may receive funding when in times of stress.

What kind of public trust funds are we talking about?

How can it be funded?

On the second question, it would be prudent to add a levy with appropriate name and administered either nationally or locally or regionally. Also, the companies that are enlisted for public trust fund support may be advised to pay more taxes.

Now on the first question of kind of public trust funds, I suggest that such national trust funds created must be administered by a talented national council with members from central banks, planning commission, SMEs etc., with standard processes and procedures. For example, each request for a major fund allocation should go through 1 or more workflows with multiple roles looking at different aspects/perspectives before approving or rejecting along with recorded justifications. Sometimes operational and tactical workflows can be expected to be completed before the strategic workflow starts.

Such public trust funds should not be affected by vagaries related to fluctuating political climate or short economic hardships. Such public trust funds should support operational needs (including providing salary for the recognized/talented employees), expansion plans, modernization plans, education/training plans etc.,

Different national trust funds can be created for protecting the

1.   Strategically important national assets such as airports, harbours, power plants, power distribution facilities, railway hubs, other transportation hubs, strategic reserve facilities, food storage and distribution facilities, national data centres, critical R&D institutions, centres harnessing natural resources, dams and ecologically sensitive areas of the nation.

2.      Strategically important and ethically managed organizations such as

• Organizations exceeding certain revenue threshold

• Organizations exceeding certain number of employees on roll

• Organizations who are critical partners to the sound administration of the strategic national assets mentioned in point 1.

• Organizations who have a sound legacy and exceeding a certain number of years of operation

• Organizations who have consistently contributed to tax collection in an admirable way either directly or indirectly.

• Organizations that support fundamental rights of the citizens in an exemplary manner such as certain deserving media companies

3.      Systematically Important Financial Institutions

Please refer to the link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemically_important_financial_institution , which talks about financial organizations that are too big to fail or too important to fail.

4.      Constitutionally important establishments

Certain spiritual/religion-oriented monasteries/matts/ashrams which ensures spiritual harmony, health and peace qualify under this public trust fund aspect. Other establishment which come under it are planning commission body, specialized institutions under different ministries, public courts, public universities, Well deserving NGOs, bases of central forces like NRPF (National Reserve Police Force/National Disaster Relief Force, Prison/Remand central facilities/forces etc.,