Chairman and Managing Director of NALCO , a public sector unit, has been arrested on charges of corruption. He is a mechanical engineer and had studied in IIT, Delhi. Abhay Kumar Srivastava was earlier CMD of Cement Corporation of India, another public sector unit.
Srivastava's appointment as CMD of NALCO was a subject of controversy as the following report which appeared in the Business Standard on October 2, 2009 exposes:
"Abhay Kumar Srivastava, the chairman and managing director of Cement Corporation of India (CCIL) today took over as CMD of navratna public sector unit, National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco).
Srivastava, a mechanical engineer by profession, took over from C R Pradhan, who retired as Nalco CMD yesterday. Before joining Nalco, Srivastava was heading CCIL, a Govt. of India Undertaking under ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, as its CMD for about 5 years.
However, Srivastava’s appointment to the new post is not without its share of controversy as a shareholder has filed a petition in the Orissa High Court challenging his appointment to the post.
The petitioner pointed out that in the interview held for the post of Nalco CMD in 2007, C R Pradhan, who has been acting as the CMD in charge since February 2005, was empanelled as the number one candidate followed by A. K Srivastava in the second slot.
The panel was valid for one year.
Though the panel of name was finalised in October 2007, Pradhan’s appointment was delayed till 3 August 2009. On Pradhan’s retirement, the petitioner argued, fresh process of selection should have been started by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension and the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) giving opportunities to all those candidates who had not qualified for the post in the earlier interview.
However, the PMO in violation of all the established guidelines and procedure appointed Srivastava, the second person from the panel as CMD, Nalco from 1 October 2009, long after the validity of the panel had expired, the petitioner pointed out."
One is tempted to think that a person who does not hesitate to swindle money would have unhesitatingly purchased his way in career progression. His wife also has been arrested.
Media reports indicate that Ms.Srivastava's bank lockers contained 10 kg of gold bricks, jewellery and Rs.24.5 lac cash. She was also carrying with her Rs.5 lac when she was arrested in a bank branch in Delhi. She had opened bank accounts using forged PAN card. It is surprising that A.K.Srivastava appealed to the court where he was produced, not to be sent to police custody as he could then be placed under suspension and that it would cause irreparable damage to him. Ms.Chandni Srivastava told the judge to excuse her spouse since he had nothing to do with the bank lockers.
Institutions of higher learning like IITs may not immunise the students from greed (in fact, it may be fostered), but the students of such institutes are supposed to play fair and not indulge in social evils like corruption. Spousal contagion effect also might have played a part in this sordid story.
Srivastava's appointment as CMD of NALCO was a subject of controversy as the following report which appeared in the Business Standard on October 2, 2009 exposes:
"Abhay Kumar Srivastava, the chairman and managing director of Cement Corporation of India (CCIL) today took over as CMD of navratna public sector unit, National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco).
Srivastava, a mechanical engineer by profession, took over from C R Pradhan, who retired as Nalco CMD yesterday. Before joining Nalco, Srivastava was heading CCIL, a Govt. of India Undertaking under ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, as its CMD for about 5 years.
However, Srivastava’s appointment to the new post is not without its share of controversy as a shareholder has filed a petition in the Orissa High Court challenging his appointment to the post.
The petitioner pointed out that in the interview held for the post of Nalco CMD in 2007, C R Pradhan, who has been acting as the CMD in charge since February 2005, was empanelled as the number one candidate followed by A. K Srivastava in the second slot.
The panel was valid for one year.
Though the panel of name was finalised in October 2007, Pradhan’s appointment was delayed till 3 August 2009. On Pradhan’s retirement, the petitioner argued, fresh process of selection should have been started by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension and the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) giving opportunities to all those candidates who had not qualified for the post in the earlier interview.
However, the PMO in violation of all the established guidelines and procedure appointed Srivastava, the second person from the panel as CMD, Nalco from 1 October 2009, long after the validity of the panel had expired, the petitioner pointed out."
One is tempted to think that a person who does not hesitate to swindle money would have unhesitatingly purchased his way in career progression. His wife also has been arrested.
Media reports indicate that Ms.Srivastava's bank lockers contained 10 kg of gold bricks, jewellery and Rs.24.5 lac cash. She was also carrying with her Rs.5 lac when she was arrested in a bank branch in Delhi. She had opened bank accounts using forged PAN card. It is surprising that A.K.Srivastava appealed to the court where he was produced, not to be sent to police custody as he could then be placed under suspension and that it would cause irreparable damage to him. Ms.Chandni Srivastava told the judge to excuse her spouse since he had nothing to do with the bank lockers.
Institutions of higher learning like IITs may not immunise the students from greed (in fact, it may be fostered), but the students of such institutes are supposed to play fair and not indulge in social evils like corruption. Spousal contagion effect also might have played a part in this sordid story.
2 comments:
Rajat Gupta implicated in the Rajrathnam (Galleon) insider scandal is also from IITD.--Mohan
Anil Kumar who is also implicated is from IIT-B.
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