E-Paper
Khattar ex-OSD made Confed head, more aides likely to go
Prior to him, two other OSDs — Jawahar Yadav and Raj Kumar Bhardwaj — who were also political appointees like Capt Bhupinder, had quit and were given new assignments.
Capt Bhupinder, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, has been appointed chairman of the Federation of Consumers’ Cooperative Wholesale Stores Limited (Confed). He had put in his papers as an OSD last week. Confed is a loss-making public sector enterprise.
Prior to him, two other OSDs — Jawahar Yadav and Raj Kumar Bhardwaj — who were also political appointees like Capt Bhupinder, had quit and were given new assignments. Yadav, the then principal OSD to the CM, was made chairman of the Haryana Housing Board and Bhardwaj, OSD, media, New Delhi, was appointed as head of a University Grants Commission (UGC) body.
Another political appointee Amit Arya, who was the media adviser to the CM was also shifted to New Delhi in the same capacity, about two months ago. The reshuffles were said to be part of a revamp in the chief minister’s office (CMO) in the wake of the ensuing general and state elections. With this rejig, the original team of Khattar has been revamped almost completely.
At least three more aides of the chief minister are on their way out. The issue of their shifting was discussed during e meeting of the core group of the Haryana BJP last week, though Khattar is yet to take a final decision.
PSE is running losses
According to the White Paper on State Finance, 2015, Confed had a turnover of Rs 762 crore in 2004-05, which increased to Rs 1,565 crore in 2013-14. From a net profit of Rs 5 crore in 2004-05, the federation gradually reported a net loss of Rs 59 crore in 2013-14. The accumulated loss of the Federation increased from Rs 1 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 117 crore in 2013-14. The white paper had also said that the present debt (2015) in the form of a cash credit limit of Rs 306 crore had been obtained against a state government guarantee. Confed is making heavy losses year after year. In order to reduce its losses, it has deviated from its original mandate and ventured into the procurement business. But that too has proved to be a liability due to damage to stock.
