CITU concerned over absence of ONGC chief executive

CITU on Wednesday expressed concern over the uncertainty caused by the absence of a regular Chief Executive of ONGC, reports Sutirtho Patranobis.

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on Wednesday expressed concern over the uncertainty caused by the absence of a regular Chief Executive of ONGC, a leading navaratna PSU.

In a press statement, CITU said that it was "shocked that the Government which otherwise does not lose any opportunity to undermine PSUs, could not decide a successor to fill the post of CMD for nine months since May 2006."

As a PSU that pays the highest dividend to Government coffers and is going for modernisation ventures into areas of exploration, CITU called it "the height of adhocism, shown by the Government, which for inexplicable reasons had no succession planning for ONGC," the trade union said.

It added that the Government owes a reply as to how it has taken more than five months to finalise its decision on a panel recommended by Public Enterprises Selection Board (PSEB). The Government, it added, should also explain why the panel was reportedly scrapped, leading "to further uncertainty in the decision making process of ONGC which is likely to affect the image of the company, which has established a global identity."

The trade union demanded the Government to come clean on the issue and appoint a regular CMD at the earliest to "allay the widespread apprehension that other than the indecision of Government there is a deeper motive to destabilise ONGC in the interest of Indian and multi-national corporates in upstream oil sector," the release said.

Email Sutirtho Patranobis: sutirthopatranobis@hindustantimes.com

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