Govt to fill vacant positions of chiefs in 5 PEs

KATHMANDU, Feb 29: 

The newly-formed Public Enterprises Management Board will soon initiate the process to appoint chiefs in state-owned enterprises through open competition. 

In the initial phase, the board - a semi-autonomous body that monitors, supervises and regulates all state-owned firms - will only target enterprises, where topmost positions have remained vacant for some time. 

Currently, crucial state enterprises like Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Oil Corporation, Nepal Airlines Corporation, Beema Sansthan and Hydropower Investment and Development Company have no one at the helm.

“The priority of the management board will be to fill positions of chief executives in these companies through open competition,” a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Finance told Republica. 

These positions will be filled based on guidelines on selection of chief executives and board members of public enterprises, which was recently endorsed by the Cabinet.

To begin the process, the management board will first issue public notice asking interested candidates to file applications. 

In order to make this process transparent, the board has developed four indicators - personal qualification and experience, quality of business plan, face-to-face interview and leadership capability. 

These indicators are given different weightages based on which the score of each applicant would be derived. 

The task of tallying the scores will be conducted by a six-member committee, formed under the chairmanship of the Public Service Commission´s chief or someone appointed by the person. The committee will then forward names of three best applicants to the government for final approval.

The Public Enterprises Management Board (PEMB) - which was formed as per the provision in the PEMB (Formation and Operations) Order introduced by Prime Minister Babu Ram Bhattarai last December - has adopted replacing chief executives who were handpicked with those appointed through open competition as its first agenda.

“The PEMB will also be replacing all board members, who were not appointed on merit basis, with those selected through open competition,” the official said.

It is currently headed by former secretary Bimal Wagle, who was appointed to the post through open competition last month.

The government is currently operating over three dozen public enterprises, which includes telecom, banks, oil and media companies. 

However, most of these companies are incurring huge losses, turning them into liabilities for the government. 

Factors like inefficiency, unproductive workforce, unnecessary political interference and technological backwardness have been cited as reasons for their unsatisfactory performance. 

But one of the main reasons, as told by many, is failure to appoint capable persons at top positions.

Source: Republica