Ec Moved Against Sarans Appointment As Trai Member

A move to induct P S Saran, member (services), Telecom Commission, as a member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is likely to run aground after a complaint to the Election Commission (EC) over the appointment.

The government is considering Sarans appointment. TRAI, which is allowed to have as many as seven members, is currently staffed with only four members chairperson S S Sodhi, vice-chairperson B K Zutshi, secretary N Ramachandran and M Ravindran, who is a member. Sources said that although the government had cleared Sarans induction, the complaint by a former employee of the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) to the EC could delay the process.

 

The complainant has pointed out that the hastiness on part of the government (through the department of telecommunications, DoT) was unwarranted. Such a decision should be taken only after a new government assumes office.

The EC is yet to take a stance on the appointment. Saran, who has been the member (services) of the Telecom Commission for more than two years, is scheduled to retire by May. He was to have been inducted into TRAI by then.

Saran has been closely involved with the telecom deregulation process, which began in 1992. He was adviser (services) and, later, member (services). In the crucial 1994-95 period, which witnessed the cellular and basic telecom services tenders, Saran was at the helm of affairs in DoT.

Although the telecom regulator is allowed to have seven members under the TRAI Act, 1997, sources say, it can be staffed with only five members for the time being.