NTPC chairman selection: Engineering graduate clause dropped

BOWING to the pressure from the IAS lobby, the government has finally dropped the clause requiring an engineering degree as a prerequisite for the post of NTPC chairman.
The search panel constituted to find a new chairman for country's biggest power generator NTPC has removed the clause, reports a leading financial daily.
The lobby of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) had...
objected to the clause as it rendered many of them ineligible for the plum post.
The post fell vacant after Arup Roy Chowdhury, who served as the chairman for five years, retired on August 31.
Earlier, the government was keen to have an engineering graduate to take over as the next chairman.
A search committee constituted for the job, led by power secretary Pradeep Kumar Pujari, was entertaining applications only from candidates holding engineering degrees.
Atanu Chakraborty, a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer and an engineering bachelor, is considered a frontrunner to for the post.
With specialisation in electronics and communication engineering, Chakraborty even completed his post graduate diploma in business finance and subsequently MBA from the UK in business administration.
Currently, Chakraborty is serving as the managing director at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
Chakraborty has served as managing director at Gujarat State Financial Services, CEO at Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board, CE .
He has also served as a joint secretary at the Union finance ministry.
Another person who is also in the race for the top post in NTPC is ICP Keshari, a 1988 batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, who is serving as a special commissioner at the joint secretary level in the Madhya Pradesh government.
Keshari, however, said he has not applied for the post.
The committee is also scouting for candidates from the private sector and names of a few large private power company executives are also doing the rounds.
Arup Roy Chowdhury, who served as the chairman of NTPC for the last five years, retired on August 31 after the NDA government denied him an extension. A K Jha, director, technical, at NTPC, has taken over additional charge of the post of chairman and managing director.
Roy Chowdhury was the second PSU head who was not allowed to continue till retirement after completing a five-year term. Earlier on June 11, the government had denied extension to CS Verma as head of Maharatna PSU Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
Roy Choudhury completed his five-year term on August 31 but he was due to retire in December 2016.
AK Jha, director technical at NTPC, has been temporarily holding the CMD's charge for the past three months. If the search panel is not able to select a candidate for the post soon, Jha's tenure may be extended by another three months.