17 in race for DGH top slot

Interview process of the applicants has been postponed

Seventeen persons including Oil India Ltd Director (Exploration and Development) B N Talukdar and ONGC Executive Director Anand Sahu are in the race to head upstream oil regulatory body -- DGH.

Besides the two, OIL Director (Human Resources and Business Development) Nripendra Kumar Bharali too has applied for the job of Director General of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), industry sources said.

A search committee headed by Oil Secretary Vivek Rae was to interview the applicants this week but the same has been postponed. The panel also comprises Syamal Kumar Sarkar, Secretary to the Department of Personnel and Training and Thirumalachari Ramasami, Secretary, Science & Technology. S V Rao, former Director Exploration of ONGC, is an expert member on the committee.

Among the other applicants included Anil Bhandari, Executive Director, ONGC who has already been selected as the Director (Exploration) of ONGC Videsh Ltd.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) executive directors P K Bhowmick, J G Chaturvedi, Shyam Mohan, R K Sharma and B S Joysulu, B L Lohar are among the others who have applied.

More than a year after a bureaucrat was appointed DGH, the Oil Ministry wants the agency to be headed by technocrat and had in invited applications for the job of DG, DGH. The last date to apply was May 31.

The Oil Ministry wants an engineer or geo-scientist with 25 years of experience in upstream oil and gas sector to replace Rajiv Nayan Choubey as the Director General of the DGH.

The government had in June last year appointed Choubey, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, as DGH.

The appointment of a bureaucrat as the head of the highly technical arm of the Oil Ministry had raised eyebrows then as it was not clear how the selection was made without the post being advertised. There was also no selection panel formed to choose among eligible candidates, it was pointed out.

The term of DG, DGH will be for five years or till the incumbent completes the age of superannuation of 60 years, whichever is earlier, they said.

Choubey, a post-graduate in Physics, was development commissioner (handlooms) in the Ministry of Textiles before becoming DG, DGH.

He was appointed head of DGH after the then DG, DGH, S K Srivastava moved to Oil India Ltd as the Chairman and Managing Director.

Srivastava, who was director (operations) at Oil India in 2009, was made the temporary head of DGH to replace the controversial V K Sibal, in October 2009. He was formally appointed DG, DGH in February, 2010. Prior to his temporary charge, he was deputy, DG, DGH under Sibal.