Letters: Stifling public sector

The report "UTI finally gets a head, splits CMD post" (July 4) highlights some disturbing truths.

• It took 28 months to decide that one person couldn't fill the chairman and managing director (CMD) position vacated by U K Sinha. 
   
• Institutional shareholders could not guide UTI to find a suitable applicant for the post.
   
• What prevailed was the view of a minority shareholder "from outside" (the US firm that owned 26 per cent of UTI's shares).
   
• UTI did not have a succession plan in place and the government or the public sector organisations that had majority shareholding did not take enough interest in sorting out issues, at various stages of the selection process which led to rejection of a shortlisted candidate.
   
• While there is nothing inherently wrong in splitting the CMD's post, the events that caused the split deserve study to avoid similar situations in the future.

When organisations like the Reserve Bank of India can have all top vacancies filled fast, the UTI's failure in this respect needs to be probed for corrective action. Formulating and implementing succession plans for top government or public sector jobs with professionalism and efficiency is imperative so that these institutions can function successfully in today's competitive environment .

M G Warrier Mumbai

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