india

Updated: Jul 17, 2019 22:39 IST

The Centre on Wednesday wrote to the Delhi government asking it to withdraw the nomination of four representatives from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as directors of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) instead of government officials citing Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) guidelines.

The Delhi government nominated AAP leaders are Raghav Chadha, Atishi, party Rajya Sabha member ND Gupta’s son Naveen Gupta and Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD) vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah.

The Centre has said it is in the guidelines of DPE and is applicable to DMRC as well adding that the Government of India (GoI) is also nominating government nominee directors along the same lines.

A letter written by the ministry of housing and urban affairs’ additional secretary K Sanjay Murthy on Wednesday to state chief secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, a copy of which has been reviewed by Hindustan Times, states as per approval of metro projects issued by the Centre, DMRC is required to adopt DPE guidelines. According to the guidelines on composition of board of directors, officers dealing with concerned enterprises or handling the issues of sectors should be nominated as government nominee directors.

“It is, therefore, advised that in the interest of development of DMRC, GNCTD should withdraw the nomination of government nominee directors...who are not government servants and nominate, as earlier, such officials of the state government who deal with the subject and bring domain knowledge, expertise and accountability to drive DMRC into a world-class service provider,” Murthy said.

The board comprises 17 members, including five each from the Centre and the Delhi government.

“Further, convention has been established for all metro rail companies that officers closely involved with the implementation of metro rail projects working in the area of transport/infrastructure/finance/urban development are nominated by the Government of India (GoI) and respective state governments on the board of metro companies. This is to ensure that individuals well conversant with functional, financial and managerial aspects are represented on the board and contribute to effective decision making,” Murthy said.

He added that metro companies across the country have government nominee directors from the state governments who are ex-officio members dealing with the subjects like chief secretary, finance secretary, urban development secretary or any retired government servants who have expertise in the domain.

“This model has worked very well so far in the development of the metro network in the country...It is pertinent to mention that government nominee directors bring not only domain knowledge and expertise but are also accountable to various tasks of the company for ensuring time-bound implementation of the project. It is easier to hold government officers on the board in their ex-officio capacity accountable which may not be possible for private individuals,” Murthy wrote.

Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the state government has not received the letter yet. “We will respond to it as and when it comes,” he added.

(With Inputs from Sweta Goswami).