The Hindu Business Line : Delay in appointing JNPT head may hit projects

JNPT, considered the country's gateway port for container cargoes, has been without a full-fledged Chairman after Mr Ravi Budhiraja's term ended in May 2006.

Mumbai , Sept 7

The Shipping Ministry has yet again messed up the appointment of a full-fledged Chairman for India's leading container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

Sources said that after selecting Mr Johnny Joseph, Commissioner of Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), to head JNPT, the Ministry has now rescinded the order, stating that it was looking for another person to fill the over three-month-old vacancy. With the new selection process rolling out, JNPT may have to wait for some more time before it gets a boss.

Currently, Ms Rani Jadhav, Chairperson of the neighbouring Mumbai port, is holding temporary charge as JNPT Chairman.

Port users said that while day-to-day operations of the port have not been seriously affected due to the delay in appointment, its development projects, including the fourth container terminal project, have already felt an adverse impact. The port has called for EoI bids for the proposed fourth terminal.

JNPT, which handles about 65 per cent of India's container traffic and is considered the country's gateway port for container cargoes, has been without a full-fledged Chairman after Mr Ravi Budhiraja's term ended in May 2006. Moreover, it has been without a Deputy Chairman for 15 months now.

The appointment of Mr Budhiraja's successor faced delay right from the start. Although the Government normally selects a person to head such key organisations even before the incumbent's retirement date, in this case the port was virtually headless for several days after Mr Budhiraja's retirement. The Ministry subsequently asked Ms Jadhav to hold temporary charge.

Then there were reports that the Ministry selected Mr Joseph to assume independent charge.

However, there was further delay in the transition, with the State Government reluctant to relieve Mr Joseph in the light of the monsoons that affected Mumbai. Subsequently, when the State Government did relieve him, Mr Joseph was informed that his transfer has been cancelled.

Now, it appears there is likely to be fresh delay in appointment of the port's Chairman.

Several members on the JNPT board are learnt to be unhappy with the way the Ministry is going about to fill the vacant position. During the three months that Ms Jadhav has been in charge, only two board meetings were held.

"Normally, the Chairman of a port prepares the agenda for a board meeting, which is held once a month. Apparently the in-charge chairperson of the port is not willing to include any crucial or major items on the agenda. As a result both the meetings ended up discussing only trivial issues, overlooking the major ones. This is an unfortunate situation. The new Chairman will certainly have a backlog of pending issues to clear," a board member, on condition of anonymity, told Business Line.