MUMBAI, SEPT 28: For NCP leader Dilip Sopal, the joy of holding a Cabinet rank in his capacity as chairman of the Maharashtra State Financial Corporation (MSFC) was short-lived. After the amendment to the State Financial Corporations Act, Sopal had to resign.On July 11, the Congress-led Democratic Front Government recommended Sopal's name to the MSFC board of directors for the post of chairman of the corporation. However, the board of directors rejected the proposal for obvious political reasons. Subsequently, the Government directly appointed him as the chairman on September 5 and also granted him the Cabinet rank.But following large scale irregularities and gross misuse of power by a section of State financial corporations, the Centre amended the act on September 15 to provide for the appointment of the chairman by the Small Industries Development Bank of India in consultation with the State Government.``Since the Centre has amended the act, I have resigned from the post with immediate effect. I don't want to be a hurdle in the process of implementation of the amended legislation,'' Sopal said.The Centre has also, with a view of poor performance on the recovery front, asked all the financial corporations to set up special courts to gear up the process. ``During a survey of the financial corporations, it was found that by and large, norms were not followed while releasing the loans and that the recovery was very poor. No steps were taken by the corporations to recover the loans. As a result, most of the corporations were in a financial mess,'' a senior official said.Sopal said as per the amended legislation, though it was a State financial corporation, the State Goverment had a very little role. ``My understanding is that as per the amended law, the powers of the chairman as well as the entire board of directors have been drastically curbed. If the chairman has no powers, I think there is no point in continuing on such a toothless corporation,'' he added.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has granted Cabinet status to all the heads of the State-run corporations and boards. ``The Chief Minister has chalked out a new formula for the purpose. Accordingly, all the legislators, who were Minister of State in the erstwhile Sena-BJP government and now have been appointed to head a board, will be granted a Cabinet rank. In addition, those who were former ministers in the Congress government prior to 1995 and now have been appointed on the board, have also been given the Cabinet rank. Legislators, who were not holding post earlier and now have been nominated on the boards, will be given the rank of Minister of State,'' a senior official added.
