'CCI Director General office should have direct recruits'

The office of the Director General, CCI, should have recruitment rules to have some percentage of direct recruitment, says CCI Director General A K Chauhan

Faced with manpower crunch in probing unfair trade practices, the head of Competition Commission's investigation arm has said the division should be allowed to make direct recruitments rather than only depend on people coming on deputation.

The Director General's office is the probe arm of the Competition Commission of India. Cases where the Commission has found prima facie evidence of violation of competition norms are referred to the DG for detailed investigations.

CCI Director General A K Chauhan, who is demitting office after little over three-year tenure today, said that vacanies at his office need to be filled at the earliest.

Chauhan, who has submitted over 150 investigation reports to the Commission during his tenure, emphasised that the DG office should have some percentage of employees, at least about 25 per cent, as direct recruits.

"The office of the Director General, CCI, should have recruitment rules to have some percentage of direct recruitment," he told PTI in an interview here.

He added that having direct recruits would help in having continuity.

His comments come against the backdrop of the DG office facing nearly 60 per cent shortage of staff. This office has a sanctioned strength of about 40 but presently there are less than 20 people. All the current employees are on deputation.

In recent times, there have been rising instances of entities across sectors indulging in anti-competitive practices at the market place.

Among the major cases handled by the DG in recent times include those related to BCCI, DLF, NSE and cartelisation among cement manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Chauhan emphasised that there should be continuous capacity building initiatives at the DG office besides providing more international exposure to the employees.

On the functioning of the DG office, he said it should remain independent, transparent and at arms length from the Commission. All these things are being well maintained, he added.