Gujral Selective In Clearing Psu Appointments

Prime Minister I K Gujral has been rather selective in distributing largesse on the eve of his leaving office.

This is clear from the two files sent to him for appointment of Indian Oil Corporations directors. He approved one appointment and sent back the other file with remarks that it should be put up to the new government at the Centre.

The government yesterday said some appointments cleared by Gujral when the poll exercise was underway was the culmination of the selection process started several months before and there was nothing unusual about it.

The ministry for petroleum and natural gas had recommended the names of O N Marwaha, executive director of IOC, for the post of marketing director of IOC, and Subir Raha, executive director of the Oil Coordination Committee (OCC), for the post of personnel director of Indian Oil Corporation.

The names had earlier been cleared by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).

However, the Prime Minister cleared the appointment of only Marwaha and sent back Rahas file.

Official sources wonder what considerations went into the approval of the appointment of only one director while the two cases were quite similar.

Asked to comment on press reports questioning the locus standi of the outgoing government to take decisions, an official spokesman told reporters that the appointments, including some in public sector companies, had come for the Prime Ministers approval at the last stage of the selection process.

In any case, the government is still in office, the spokesman said adding the appointments were routine in nature.

The spokesman maintained that the government had not made any critical appointments like chiefs of intelligence agencies like RAW and Intelligence Bureau without waiting for the new government to take decisions.