DIBRUGARH, Aug 1 - Fourteen persons have been cleared for appearing for interview by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) on August 18, for selection of the next managing director (MD) of the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), the company which is setting up the Rs 10,000-crore Assam Gas Cracker Project at Lepetkata here. The selected MD will assume charge on March 1 next year.
Sources said there could be a vacancy for the post of the company�s director (finance) also, as the Vigilance Commissionerate is reported to have raised a red flag on a recent employment controversy at the gas cracker unit. The present director finance, OP Taylor is accused of favouring his nephew for the post of a finance manager at BCPL. The interview board that selected the employee was headed by Taylor himself. According to PSU norms this is a serious offence.
Similarly, there are allegations of rampant corruption in recruitment of staff at the gas cracker unit. These have triggered several agitations at Lepetkata, but the BCPL management has preferred to ignore the public outcries.
Among the fourteen applicants who have been shortlisted for the August 18 interview for the MD�s post, two are currently serving BCPL as general managers. They are PK Mati and Ashok Kumar Singh.
Now, when the BCPL is unable to meet its commissioning targets, primarily due to gross mismanagement of the construction schedule, it is strange that two officials of the same inefficient team have been allowed to appear for selection to the post of MD of the same company. The common logic is that if one has not been efficient as general manager, how can such a person be considered for a higher rank?
This time around, there is also a huge public demand that a person from Assam be appointed as managing director of BCPL. Among the fourteen MD hopefuls this time around, there are four from the State. The gas cracker, being a product of the Assam Accord, would do better under a person from Assam, if one takes the example of the Numaligarh Refinery, which came up in record time, and is now poised for a huge growth, because the foundation was laid by Ranjit Kumar Dutta, a person from Assam.
