The Hindu Business Line : Disinvestment panel members resign

THE entire team of Disinvestment Commission, including its Chairman Mr R.H. Patil, and four part-time members have tendered their resignations, rendering the advisory body defunct with only the member Secretary, Mr Amitabh Bhattacharya, remaining.

Mr Patil and part-time members Mr T.L. Shankar, Mr N.V. Iyer, Mr V.V. Desai and Mr K.R.S. Murthy submitted their resignations en-masse to Mr Arun Shourie before he demitted office as the Disinvestment Minister after the NDA Government was voted out of power, Government sources said.

The members resigned to enable the new Government have a free hand in re-constituting the Commission.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was yet to take a view on the resignations submitted by the Commission members, the sources said.

The Disinvestment Commission was reconstituted in 2001, initially for a two-year period, and was given a year's extension till October 2004. It had submitted recommendations on 38 PSU cases apart from review recommendations on Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, Manganese Ore (India) Ltd, Rites and Project Engineering Corporation (PEC).

At the time of submitting its resignation, the Commission was working on 13 new PSU cases including Concor, they said.

The Disinvestment Commission was first set up in 1996-97 under the chairmanship of Mr G.V. Ramakrishna by the United Front Government.

The Disinvestment Ministry portfolio has not been allocated to any minister in keeping with the mood prevailing within the Left parties supporting the UPA Government, which has made it explicitly clear that it would pursue a disinvestment policy different from the one followed by the pervious NDA Government. The Left parties had, in fact, demanded scrapping of the Disinvestment Ministry.

A final stand on the disinvestment policy of the UPA Government is expected to emerge when the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) is released on May 27.