The irregularities in the appointment procedures for the next Chairman could be one more embarrassment for the Manmohan Singh government
WHO will be the next chairman of India’s mighty navratna, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is the million dollar question doing the rounds of Delhi’s power corridors. This energy behemoth accounts for 79% of India’s crude oil and 54% of natural gas production.
One of India’s top business houses and another one, known as “the Tilakdhari brothers” in ONGC circles, are lobbying frenetically to install their candidate as chairman. Uncounted billions of dollars are at stake and stories of venality and corruption in the affairs of ONGC are regularly doing the rounds in the media.
The headless ONGC is being run by temporary boss AK Hazarika since the retirement of RS Sharma.
The Public Selection Enterprise Board has named two candidates — Sudhir Vasudeva and K Tyagi. Vasudeva is a serving junior director offshore in ONGC. Tyagi is the chairman and Managing Director, Pawan Hans. So where was the delay when two apparently able candidates were shortlisted?
As is customary, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPN) sent the file to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner for clearance.
M Pillai, Director CVC, through its letter to the Ministry (number 010- VGC-154/110081 dated November 26, 2010) accorded vigilance clearance to Tyagi “for the stated purpose”. In the same letter, Pillai added: “As regards Sh. S. Vasudeva, the commission has advised that the complaints referred to in Ministry’s letter dated 4.11.10 and factual position thereof may be placed before the competent authority while it considers the candidature of Sh. Vasudeva for the impugned appointment”. The letter is self-explanatory. It did not find Vasudeva’s credentials apt for clearance. It appears to have camouflaged the issue.
by K SUBRAMANIAM
The file was sent to the then Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Murli Deora. The file failed to surface for two months. Why it remained in the locker room is best known to Deora. But the wags are surmising that it was at the behest of a powerful business house close to Deora which has substantial interests in ONGC.
On January 10, 2011, before he demitted office, Deora sent the file to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. On February 9, 2011, Deepak Isran, Under Secretary in the Ministry, wrote to Sudhir Bhargava, Additional Secretary of the Petroleum Ministry, asking that the proposal be resubmitted after going through the proper procedure again to be approved by the new minister of petroleum following CVC clearance. Actually, Isran returned the ACRs of both the candidates. Apparently, the file for the appointment of Vasudeva was sent to DoPT without the clearance of the CVC.
Surprisingly, within two days after the return of the file from DoPT, it appears that Vasudeva’s file was sent the same day to the CVC for clearance. But again Pillai wrote to the MoPN (letter dated 12.01.11): “ It is seen that CVO/ONGC’s reports have been forwarded to the commission without the comments of the Competent Authority.” In his letter Pillai lambasted the CVO, ONGC report and the role of Vasudeva in B-193 Process Plant, B-193 Sub Sea Pipeline, and report of CVO, ONGC dated 06.12.2010 regarding hiring of 13 vessels (OSV, PSV, AHTS & MSV). In brief, Pillai pointed out the alleged dubious role of Vasudeva in the said dealings. In the same letter, in the last paragraph, Pillai did not clear the name of Vasudeva from the CVC’s side.
The question is, when the credentials of Vasudeva were doubtful, why was his file sent back for CVC clearance? Also, when CVC did not clear the name of Vasudeva,why was the name of Tyagi not sent to the DoPT and after that to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for final approval? The pressure was reportedly built up by the Tilakdhari brothers and the other business house for whom Vasudeva has been known to do favours in the past. The minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and its officials came under tremendous pressure to get Vasudeva’s name cleared.
It seems that the UPA goIt seems that the UPA government has not learned any lesson from the PJ Thomas case. And the whispers in South Block are that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are fully aware of the activities of the business house and the Tilakdhari brothers. Sources disclose that a strategy was worked out in the absence of a full-time CVC by the business house and the Tilakdhari brothers with K Subramaniam, OSD to CVC, to get the name of Vasudeva cleared by the CVC.
UNDER this course, R Srikumar, a methodical and technical official of CVC, was required to give his report as well. It was on the basis of this report that Vasudeva’s name was expected to get the green light – or so his supporters hoped. How this official would be managed or manipulated was the hot topic of discussion within the ONGC. Ultimately, on March 31, the business house and the Tilakdhari brothers succeeded on getting Vasudeva’s name cleared by the CVC. Now, it remains to be seen which of the two names the Prime Minister will clear in the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
WHO will be the next chairman of India’s mighty navratna, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is the million dollar question doing the rounds of Delhi’s power corridors. This energy behemoth accounts for 79% of India’s crude oil and 54% of natural gas production.
One of India’s top business houses and another one, known as “the Tilakdhari brothers” in ONGC circles, are lobbying frenetically to install their candidate as chairman. Uncounted billions of dollars are at stake and stories of venality and corruption in the affairs of ONGC are regularly doing the rounds in the media.
The headless ONGC is being run by temporary boss AK Hazarika since the retirement of RS Sharma.
The Public Selection Enterprise Board has named two candidates — Sudhir Vasudeva and K Tyagi. Vasudeva is a serving junior director offshore in ONGC. Tyagi is the chairman and Managing Director, Pawan Hans. So where was the delay when two apparently able candidates were shortlisted?
As is customary, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPN) sent the file to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner for clearance.
M Pillai, Director CVC, through its letter to the Ministry (number 010- VGC-154/110081 dated November 26, 2010) accorded vigilance clearance to Tyagi “for the stated purpose”. In the same letter, Pillai added: “As regards Sh. S. Vasudeva, the commission has advised that the complaints referred to in Ministry’s letter dated 4.11.10 and factual position thereof may be placed before the competent authority while it considers the candidature of Sh. Vasudeva for the impugned appointment”. The letter is self-explanatory. It did not find Vasudeva’s credentials apt for clearance. It appears to have camouflaged the issue.
by K SUBRAMANIAM
The pressure came from the Tilakdhari brothers and the other business house for whom Vasudeva has been known to do favours in the past.
The file was sent to the then Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Murli Deora. The file failed to surface for two months. Why it remained in the locker room is best known to Deora. But the wags are surmising that it was at the behest of a powerful business house close to Deora which has substantial interests in ONGC.
On January 10, 2011, before he demitted office, Deora sent the file to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. On February 9, 2011, Deepak Isran, Under Secretary in the Ministry, wrote to Sudhir Bhargava, Additional Secretary of the Petroleum Ministry, asking that the proposal be resubmitted after going through the proper procedure again to be approved by the new minister of petroleum following CVC clearance. Actually, Isran returned the ACRs of both the candidates. Apparently, the file for the appointment of Vasudeva was sent to DoPT without the clearance of the CVC. Surprisingly, within two days after the return of the file from DoPT, it appears that Vasudeva’s file was sent the same day to the CVC for clearance. But again Pillai wrote to the MoPN (letter dated 12.01.11): “ It is seen that CVO/ONGC’s reports have been forwarded to the commission without the comments of the Competent Authority.” In his letter Pillai lambasted the CVO, ONGC report and the role of Vasudeva in B-193 Process Plant, B-193 Sub Sea Pipeline, and report of CVO, ONGC dated 06.12.2010 regarding hiring of 13 vessels (OSV, PSV, AHTS & MSV). In brief, Pillai pointed out the alleged dubious role of Vasudeva in the said dealings. In the same letter, in the last paragraph, Pillai did not clear the name of Vasudeva from the CVC’s side.
The question is, when the credentials of Vasudeva were doubtful, why was his file sent back for CVC clearance? Why was the name of Tyagi not sent to the DoPT?
The question is, when the credentials of Vasudeva were doubtful, why was his file sent back for CVC clearance? Also, when CVC did not clear the name of Vasudeva,why was the name of Tyagi not sent to the DoPT and after that to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for final approval? The pressure was reportedly built up by the Tilakdhari brothers and the other business house for whom Vasudeva has been known to do favours in the past. The minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and its officials came under tremendous pressure to get Vasudeva’s name cleared.
It seems that the UPA goIt seems that the UPA government has not learned any lesson from the PJ Thomas case. And the whispers in South Block are that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are fully aware of the activities of the business house and the Tilakdhari brothers. Sources disclose that a strategy was worked out in the absence of a full-time CVC by the business house and the Tilakdhari brothers with K Subramaniam, OSD to CVC, to get the name of Vasudeva cleared by the CVC.
UNDER this course, R Srikumar, a methodical and technical official of CVC, was required to give his report as well. It was on the basis of this report that Vasudeva’s name was expected to get the green light – or so his supporters hoped. How this official would be managed or manipulated was the hot topic of discussion within the ONGC. Ultimately, on March 31, the business house and the Tilakdhari brothers succeeded on getting Vasudeva’s name cleared by the CVC. Now, it remains to be seen which of the two names the Prime Minister will clear in the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
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