Efforts for selecting a full time head of state-owned mining giant NMDC, which has been functioning without a Chairman since December 2011, have finally gathered steam as the Steel Ministry is likely to receive the vigilance clearance for two candidates short listed for the post by the end of this month.
Though a search-cum-selection committee headed by Planning Commission member Arun Maira had on May 31 this year short listed Bharat Coking Coal ltd (BCCl) Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Tapas Kumar lahiri and Steel Authority of India ltd’s (SAIl) Burnpur unit CEO Narendra Kothari as the two candidates for the key post, the process had been stuck owing to delay in the vigilance clearance of the two.
Official sources said that the vigilance report is expected by October-end and as soon as it arrives, the Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma would be sending a name of his choice to the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) for finalisation. Once this is done, it would take another three to four months before the name is okayed by the ACC, sources said.
Incidentally the Steel Ministry has quashed reports which had suggested that the Joint Secretary in the ministry Syedain Abbasi (who is on the board of NMDC) has been made the interim head of the mining entity. Sources said that no such decision has been taken as the vigilance reports of both lahiri and Kothari are still awaited and will reach the ministry by the end of this month.
At the same time though, the vigilance reports of both lahiri and Kothari it is to be noted - though their names had been short listed by the Maira panel in May this year - have been delayed and now are expected to reach the Steel Ministry only by October-end, a good five months after their nomination.
This delay, sources close to the development said, is stemming mainly due to the Government’s cautious approach, considering the fact that it is already mired in several controversies like the 2G spectrum scam and the coal allocation issue.
They added that the Government has been taking every decision, including those relating to appointment of heads of key institutions, after studying all the pros and cons, as post all the controversies, it is trying to ensure that no controversy emerges once a name is finalised for the post, even if a considerable amount of time is spent in doing so.
Ever since Rana Som retired as NMDC Chairman in December 2011, the public sector undertaking (PSU) has been running without a full time chief. Immediately after Som’s retirement, a selection committee set up by the Government had short listed the name of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India ltd (SPMCIl) CMD M S Rana for the post, but that did not materialise.
In the interim, NMDC’s Director (Technical) N K Nanda ran the show as part time head. However when even he failed to get an extension, SAIl Chairman C S Verma was asked to take charge of the mining entity on part time basis in May 2012. Sources pointed out that the Steel Ministry had been concerned about the delay in the entire process as functioning without a proper head had been affecting the performance of NMDC. Moreover with Verma doubling up as head of both SAIl as well as NMDC, the ministry was also worried about the functioning of the steel major.