"Thaaththa," Bindu Udagedera asked, "what is the difference between profit and loss?"
"In a business," Bindu's father Percy explained, "if you have some money left over after recovering your expenses, then you have made a profit but if you haven't done that, then you are running at a loss"
"So," Bindu said, "if you are running a business, you try to run it at a profit…"
"Of course you do…" Percy agreed.
"But what happens if you are running at a loss?" Bindu wanted to know.
"Well," Percy said, "there are several ways to deal with businesses that are making losses…" Percy declared.
"What are those, thaaththa?" Bindu inquired.
"If a business runs at a loss for some time, it will collapse," Percy said, "but there are other ways of preventing that…"
"And what are those ways, thaaththa?" Bindu wanted to know.
"There was a time," Percy remembered, "when the government identified loss making institutions that were under it and handed them over to the private sector so that they can be run at a profit…"
"Was that long ago?" Bindu wondered.
"No, it wasn't," Percy said, "most of the tea and rubber estates were handed over to the private sector and more recently even big companies dealing with insurance, telecommunications and gas were handed over…"
"And what has happened to them now?" Bindu asked.
"I suppose most of them are doing reasonably well and no one is complaining…" Percy observed.
"Handing over loss-making government businesses to the private sector was not a bad idea, then?" Bindu wondered.
"Now it certainly looks like it was a good idea…" Percy agreed.
"So," Bindu asked, "are there still government businesses that are running at a loss?"
"Of course there are," Percy said, "they announced only recently that our national airlines, the electricity board and our petroleum corporation were all making huge losses…"
"Then thaaththa," Bindu suggested, "shouldn't these also be handed over to the private sector so that they can be better managed?"
"I suppose you could say that," Percy agreed, "but they cannot hand over every government institution that is making loss to the private sector because some of them involve services that are essential for the country…"
"I suppose not," Bindu said.
"And in fact," Percy pointed out, "some government institutions such as our airline which was handed over to the private sector for some time was taken over by the government again apparently because it was not handed over to the private sector properly …"
"Then thaaththa," Bindu asked, "what is all this fuss about the government taking over businesses?"
"Well," Percy said, "I think the government plans to take over businesses which they say are not performing as well as they should…"
"But thaaththa," Bindu was puzzled, "if the government cannot manage some of the businesses already under them, why would they want to take over businesses that are not performing well?"
"I suppose the government thinks that somehow they can make them perform better…" Percy said.
"But thaaththa," Bindu protested, "you said that previously, even when a government-owned business was not performing well, it was handed over to the private sector so that it could be made to perform well and make a profit…"
"Yes," Percy conceded, "that was done before but now the government believes it can take over these businesses which are not doing well and turn them into profit making institutions…"
"If the government can do that," Bindu said, "that wouldn't be such a bad idea after all…"
"Well," Percy said, "that is what the government says it will do…"
"Why is everybody protesting, then, saying that the new laws which allow the government to take over businesses are quite unfair?" Bindu wanted to know.
"Well," Percy explained, "it seems that among the businesses the government is taking over, are a few businesses that are actually making a profit…"
"But thaaththa" Bindu argued, "if these businesses are already making a profit, why should the government bother to take them over and ruin everything as it has happened in the other businesses under its control?"
"Well," Percy said, "the government is arguing that although these businesses are making a profit, they are not performing as they are supposed to and that is why they are taking them over…"
"And what exactly do they mean by that?" Bindu didn't quite understand.
"Why, Bindu," Percy said, "they are expected to perform by making losses; instead they are making profits; so they are not performing as they are supposed to…"
"So, what does the government intend to do now?" Bindu demanded.
"The government wants to take them over, so they could continue to perform as they are supposed to, by making more losses…" Percy declared.
Bindu didn't quite know what to say to that.
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