Congress takes a jibe at PM Modi as ONGC remains without a 'regular' chairman since April 2021
Premium- The Congress party accused the central government of ‘deliberately' destroying ONGC so that ‘humare do’ takes over it
Congress has taken a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government after the state-owned ONGC firm appointed a third "interim" chairman in the past one year. The Congress party accused the central government of “deliberately" destroying India's top oil and gas producer so that "humare do", an apparent reference to billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, takes over it.
On August 31, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) appointed Rajesh Kumar Srivastav as the interim chairman of the company. ONGC is without a regular chairman and managing director since April 2021. The Centre has not made a full-time appointment yet.
The opposition also criticized ONGC's acquisition of 80% stake in Gujarat State Petroleum Corp.’s KG basin gas block. They said "pressure" was exerted on the Maharatna company to bail out the debt-laden GSPC.
Taking a dig at the BJP-led Central government, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said that the public sector undertaking and one of the 10 Maharatna companies was India's crown jewel a few years ago but “then came Mr. Modi".
“Just a few years ago ONGC was a crown jewel. Then came Mr. Modi. He forced ONGC to absorb GSPC, a scam-ridden company castigated by the CAG. ONGC is without a regular CMD since April '21. It’s being deliberately destroyed so that one of the ‘Humare Do’ takes it over. Atrocious!" the Congres leader said in a tweet.
Srivastava, who is the senior-most director on the ONGC board, has been given additional charge of chairman and managing director after current acting head Alka Mittal superannuated.
An oil ministry order said Srivastava, who is Director (Exploration) of ONGC, has been entrusted with an additional charge of chairman and managing director "for a period of 4 months with effect from September 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022 (i.e the date of his superannuation) or till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest."
Subhash Kumar, the then senior-most director on the company board and the director for finance, was named officiating head after Shashi Shanker superannuated on March 31, 2021.
And when Kumar retired on December 31, 2021, Alka Mittal, Director for Human Resources, was given the additional charge. Mittal superannuated on Wednesday.
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