Kandla chairman's post: Vasan proposes, PM disposes

Just weeks before the United Progressive Alliance government demits office, Shipping Minister G K Vasan seems to have pulled strings for the appointment of his personal secretary as chief of Kandla Port. The proposal was, however, shot down by the prime minister.

Vasan’s private secretary, Hitesh Kumar Makwana, an Indian Administrative Service officer from Tamil Nadu, has been on central deputation since 2011. Makhwana confirmed his name was considered and, later, rejected, as a private secretary couldn’t be posted in the same ministry, according to norms.

“As a rule, my name could not be finalised. The selection committee had cleared the rules and vigilance, too, subject to a relaxation in the clause that did not allow private secretaries to take charge in the same ministry,” he said.

Makwana was the sole candidate considered for the chairmanship of the Kandla port. A senior shipping ministry official confirmed the selection board had approved Makwana’s appointment as the Kandla Port chairman, adding this was cancelled by the Cabinet’s appointments committee, headed by the prime minister, at the last moment.

“The committee had objected to the fact that he was posted as the shipping minister’s personal secretary before being shortlisted for the chairman’s post,” the official said.

Now, the ministry has issued a fresh notice, inviting applications for the post. “The rule is the personal staff of any minister cannot be appointed in the same ministry. There have been deviations to this rule in the past,” said former shipping secretary K Mohandas.

The Kandla port, the largest in the country, hasn’t had a chairman since December 2013, when P D Vaghela’s term ended. Between April 2013 and February 2014, the cargo handled at the port fell seven per cent, while the overall cargo handled by the 12 major ports in the country increased 1.19 per cent.

Recently, Kandla had scrapped a Rs 5,992-crore tender for a container loading facility, after companies such as Adani Ports and SEZ and Hyundai Engineering Constructions withdrew their bids for the project, citing viability issues.