India’s oil industry on daily wages

According to ministry sources, one of the two candidates who are on the PESB shortlist — MS Ramachandran who is the executive director of the Oil Co-ordination Committee and P Bannerji who is an executive director of IOC — is keen to have this job, but the chances of the other are said to be better. So, a new job of Managing Director (and at the board level) has been created in one of IOC’s subsidiary, Indian Oil Blending Ltd (IOBL), and interviews for this will be held next week — hopefully, one of these two candidates will go to IOBL, clearing the way for the other to get the IOC job. And since both will get appointed on the same day, both will have the same seniority, when it comes to competing for the IOC chief’s job. Interestingly, IOBL has not had an independent MD for at least a decade, with the job just handled by IOC’s executive directors.

In other cases, the reasons for delays and non-confirmation is the same old story. Each temporary extension given to senior officials, gives bureaucrats and politicians more of a hold over them, and makes them more amenable to doing what the bureaucrats/policians want.

HPCL, for instance, has two senior directors who are on temporary extensions. SK Kapoor who is its director (marketing) turned 58 last September, but has not got a regular appointment for another two years — he has been given 3-month extensions. Similarly, SD Gupta who is the director (finance) completed his tenure of 5 years last June, was interviewed and given an extension 9 months ago, but this has not been formalised since he has not got a fresh vigilance clearance — he too continues on the three-month extension letters. Forget the directors, HPCL’s chief HL Zutshi turns 58 next month, but still hasn’t got a letter confirming him for another two years in keeping with the overall increase in retirment age.

Zutshi, of course, could get his extension letter just an hour or so before he relinquishes charge in mid-June, exactly the way ONGC’s director (drilling) SM Malhotra did on his last day at work in mid-May. Malhotra turned 58 in 1998, and has been continuing on several three-month leases. Malhotra’s boss BC Bora’s five-year tenure is over in July, but there’s no movement on his case so far either. ONGC’s finance director IN Chatterjee has been on temporary extension since the last 8 months.

EIL’s finance director RD Bajaj has spent the last 9 months on three-month tenures since a vigilance case was propped up when he was up for extension, and the case remains unresolved, one way or the other. And Madras Refineries had its chairman’s job vacant for a full year while the director (technical) MP Srinivasan officiated — the job was finally given to S Rammohan, an executive director of IOC, three months ago.

CR Prasad who heads GAIL is due to retire in anoter 3 months, but no effort has been made to begin the selection process for his successor, even though the rules very clearly state that the work should begin at least a year before the retirement/expiry of tenure.