The Hindu Business Line : Port chiefs need not be from IAS, says Goyal

IF the Shipping Minister, Mr Ved Prakash Goyal, has his way, he will stop posting IAS officers to positions of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of major ports. A beginning in this direction has already been made.

He stated this at an interaction with presspersons on Sunday. He made it clear that it was not mandatory to select IAS officers for the senior most positions in major ports. After all, the port chairman's post was not a cadre-based one, he said.

The most important point, he said, was whether the officials concerned would be in a position to deliver the goods. "For all you know, I might select some one from a PSU to head a major port, including Kolkata port," he said. The position of KPT chairman will fall vacant on June 30.

The Minister declined to accept the allegation that the posts of Chairman and Deputy Chairman at Kolkata port (including Haldia) had been donwgraded.

"I know the West Bengal Chief Minister has written to the Prime minister alleging that but I can tell you such complaints do not hold water," he said.

The Union Cabinet recently cleared a massive Rs 380-crore river regulatory scheme for Kolkata Port. "We wouldn't have sanctioned such a massive scheme had we not paid enough importance to the port," he observed, adding, "gone are the days when the ports of Mumbai and Kolkata were most important in the country. With the advent of containerisation, the whole scene has changed."

The present chairman of KPT held the rank of joint-secretary when he joined the post.

He has since been promoted to the rank of additional secretary. But there was nothing sacrosanct about all this, the Minister pointed out.

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