Activist seeks transparency in Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation affairs
Chennai: With the crucial post of energy secretary remaining vacant for several months, complaints against Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation have gone unattended.
Two people drawing salary for one sanctioned post, delay in records submission for internal audit and appointments without government approval are some of the serious allegations raised by RTI activist and Madras high court advocate D. Parvendhan.
"I have been writing to the Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation for the last several months seeking transparency and have also forwarded several complaints to the energy department seeking action against irregularities and serious violations in appointing staff, but no respite till date," he said.
The RTI petitions questioning whether the appointment of general manager A. Kala had been approved by the state government was rejected by the public information officer certifying that the power finance board has the authority to appoint its staff.
Tamil Nadu Power Finance is wholly owned by the state government and provides finance for all state power projects, but the corporation functions like a private organisation violating government norms and reservation rules. The company Act and power finance boards decision can never supersede the constitutional laws, he said.
Till date there is no government consent for the appointment, he alleged adding that two people are now drawing salary for one sanctioned post (system analyst) violating the norms. Reservation rules are also not followed, he alleged.
The RTI documents shared with DC also show that queries related to appointments had a common response informing that the queries were personal. Further the decision of board of directors need not be disclosed under the company act, the RTI reply said.
When contacted, Kala refuted the allegations by the activist. The decisions taken to govern the power finance had been approved by the board of directors for clearance and were implemented only after the board's clearance, she said.
There are vested interests trying to defame the reputation of power finance. Senior government officials are also part of the board and. Our office is open for document inspections also, the official added.
