Political Appointments may ruin PSEs, feel experts

IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism

“The Chairman of the Corporation should not be a political/private person. His appointment should be transparent. Corporation should be run strictly on a professional basis.”

The above guideline regarding appointment of chairpersons of civil supply corporations of all states is mentioned in the recommendations of Justice Wadhwa Committee constituted by the Supreme Court in 2008. But surprisingly, the Orissa government has chosen to ignore this guideline by nominating Mahesh Sahoo, a former MLA and a ruling party leader as the chairman of the Orissa State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC).“How could the government overlook one part of the recommendation while implementing another on streamlining of the Public Distribution System?” wonders Chiraranjan Das, an advocate at Orissa High Court.

The recent announcement of appointment of chairpersons and chiefs of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), cooperative bodies and development trusts by the state government are not in accordance either with Wadhwa Commission recommendations or with the governance manual adopted by it. Interestingly, the list of persons to be appointed as chairpersons of the PSEs, mainly include political persons of ruling party, who had lost elections or were denied party ticket! The Corporate Governance Manual for PSUs (CGMP), which was accepted by the Orissa government in 2009 after due approval of the cabinet as the manual for organisation and management of state-owned corporations, is very categorical about the appointment of experts of the PSEs.

“How could the government ignore the guidelines adopted by it last year? This guideline, drafted by a professional body like Administrative Staff College of India, is meant to improve the accountability and transparency in the corporations. The government should not violate its policy,” says Basant Das, a senior political analyst.

Rehabilitation of partymen in corporations has landed the Orissa government in troubled waters as nominated persons are not experts in required field. A PIL has been filed in the Orissa High Court urging it to direct the government not to go ahead with its plan until disposal of the writ petition. Terming the yet-to-be-made appointments as “arbitrary” and “illegal”, the petitioner maintained that in case the decision is given effect to, it would be made in violation of the principles of the Orissa Public Enterprises Reform Programme as protected in the MoU signed by the state and the Union governments on public sector re-organisation.

At least 21 PSEs are identified as profit-making while nine are incurring losses and the remaining two are operating on no-profit-no-loss basis. on them. “The Naveen Patnaik government is giving the slogan of ‘good governance’, but no one will agree to these appointments as fare and honest. We will protest against this in the proper forum for the larger interest of the state,” reacts Sivananda Ray, VP of Congress.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
GIDF Club of IIPM Lucknow Organizes Blood Donation Camp
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
The hunt for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation for students
Best Colleges for Vocational Courses in India
INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

Rashmi Bansal Publisher of JAMMAG magazine caught red-handed, for details click on the following links.

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)