PESB interviewed a dozen of eligible candidates but it claimed that no one was suitable for the post of CMD in NTPC
National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) (File Photo)
New Delhi: Interestingly, government’s head-hunter body Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) on Wednesday said that it found none to appoint the chief of blue-chip public sector firm National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) as its incumbent chairman and managing director (CMD) Gurdeep Singh superannuates on July 31 this year. However, PESB interviewed a dozen of eligible candidates but it claimed that no one was suitable for the post of CMD in NTPC.
PESB is a statutory body under the department of personnel and training (DoPT), responsible for selecting candidates for top management posts like CMDs and directors in Central Public Sector Enterprises. It also recommends based on interviews of candidates short-listed after application based on merit, seniority, and experience. In its selection process, it is often considered rigid from a limited pool of candidates.
As its struggle continues in finding the right candidates for top job at NTPC and other PUSUs, the PESB said that it interviewed as many as dozen candidates where half of them directors on board of NTPC and other state-owned firms appeared. “The board did not recommend any candidate for the post and advised the administrative ministry/department to choose an appropriate course of further action for selection including the search-cum-selection committee (SCSC) or as deemed appropriate with the approval of the competent authority,” the PESB said in a notice on its website.
Since 2021, PESB has failed to find a suitable candidate for at least four other PSUs -- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). Search-cum-selection committee route was taken wherever PESB failed to find suitable candidates. Incidentally, Singh, too, was chosen to head NTPC by a search-cum-selection committee in 2016.
As per the PESB’s notice, those interviewed for the top job at NTPC included two directors of the company — Shivam Srivastava, director (fuel) and Ravindra Kumar, director (operations), Bhupendra Kumar, director (operations) at THDC India Ltd, Mukesh Choudhary, Coal India Ltd director (marketing), Kapil Kumar Gupta, MMTC director (finance), Ajit Kumar Panda, Container Corporation of India Ltd director (project & services) and Somes Bandyopadhyay, MD, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) were prominent among others who appeared the interview.
Besides, it also revealed that Sanoj Kumar Jha, additional secretary in the ministry of Coal also appeared for the interview. Prior to this, PESB on February 1 interviewed a dozen of candidates, including BPCL director (finance) Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta and its director (refineries) S Khanna but found none suitable for the job of chairman and managing director of BPCL. That interview was to find a replacement for G Krishnakumar, who superannuated as chairman and managing director of BPCL on April 30. His replacement is yet to be named and the charge has temporarily been given to the senior post director.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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