Plan for swift action against PSU officials for wrong doings

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) will soon move a Cabinet note proposing swift action against PSU officials indulging in malafide actions or wrongdoings.

 

The proposal is a part of the recommendations made by the government-panel chaired by former SAIL Chairman S K Roongta.

 

"The Group of Ministers (GoM), which was headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had accepted the proposal that wherever there is a deliberate and malafide act for a gain (by PSUs officials), severe and swift action must be taken against them," an official told PTI.

 

The DPE has held consultations with the ministries concerned on a slew of reforms accepted by the GoM, which are aimed at strengthening the performance, transparency and efficiency of Public Sector Units.

 

"The department has prepared a note in this regard which will be soon sent to the Cabinet for its consideration," the official said.

 

Besides, the GoM has cleared the recommendation to have a clear distinction between procedural lapses and deliberate misuse of powers by key management personnel before seeking the intervention of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

 

"The panel has accepted the recommendation on CVC/CBI to make a clear distinction between cases of conscious and deliberate acts of granting undue favour Vs which involve a procedural lapse," the official said.

 

At present, there is a perception among people that in PSUs there are administrative and procedural lapses.

 

"At times, it becomes difficult to distinguish between deliberate and malafide actions," it added.

 

Among other proposals accepted by the inter-ministerial group are three-year tenure for heads of public sector companies.

 

At present, all directors as well as Chairmen of CPSEs retire on reaching the superannuation age of 60 years. This meant that some would have only a very limited time on the board to shape policies.

 

As on March 31, 2012, there were 260 CPSEs, excluding seven insurance companies. At that time, these companies employed about 13.98 lakh people.