DMRC board: AAP government defends its nominees

NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre asked the AAP government to withdraw the nomination of politicians to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) board of directors, the state said that it was an equal partner in the venture and cannot be dictated terms.
In a letter to the Centre, Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot claimed that the rule cited while objecting to nominations of non-bureaucrats by Delhi government to the DMRC board was misunderstood by the Union housing and urban affairs ministry.
Gahlot said the guidelines laid down by department of public enterprises “strongly recommend that non-government officials should be nominated as board members” of public sector enterprises. “The induction of non-official directors on the boards of PSEs has been considered essential by various committees and commissions in order to make the boards more professional,” the minister’s letter stated.
The transport minister in his letter said Delhi government and the Centre have a 50-50 partnership in DMRC. “Therefore, one partner has no right to suggest/dictate the other partner who should be nominated. Delhi government has made nominations taking into account their background and after being convinced that they will be able to protect the interests of the people of the city as well as the AAP dispensation,” the letter added.
There were innumerable instances when the Centre had nominated private individuals on the boards of various PSEs, who lacked the domain knowledge. “Madal Lal Khurana was appointed as a director and chairman of DMRC by the previous NDA government. What domain expertise did he have? In sharp contrast, two of our nominees are chartered accountants and one of them is an engineer from IIT-M,” Gahlot said.
Gahlot said the guidelines were “quite opposite” of what the Centre wants Delhi government to do. “The DPE guidelines, dated January 25, 2000, instructed all government departments to bring down the number of government directors on board of directors of PSUs to two,” he said.
Out of 17 members of the board, six are government officials (five central government nominees and one Delhi government nominee), the transport minister said. “This is much more than what has been prescribed by the central government guidelines. Therefore, nomination of four non-government officials by Delhi government is in accordance with the central government guidelines,” Gahlot claimed.