:: Dilip Cherian

CCI gets going

By Dilip Cherian

May 24 : The wait is over. The fledgling Competition Commission of India (CCI) has finally got its full quota of members and it can be now hoped that the panel will be fully operational soon. Until a few months ago there was no word from the government on when it would operationalise the panel, after the exit of acting chairman Vinod Dhall last year. However, the pace seems to have picked up following the appointment of Dhanendra Kumar, a former 1968 batch IAS officer, as chairman.

Mr Kumar’s appointment was followed by the appointment of H.C. Gupta, former coal secretary; Geeta Gauri, a member of the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission; Ratneshwar Prasad, former chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes; and Prem Narayan Parashar, former member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal as members of the panel. Now with the naming of Anurag Goel, secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs, all top positions at CCI have been filled. At the same time, sources say, CCI is going ahead with hiring other staffers for the 100 posts sanctioned by the government, of which 38 will be filled by serving babus specialised in law, economics and investigation. All signs now seem to suggest that the much-delayed panel is finally off the ground.

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Sarma’s challenge

The government has finally found a successor to former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Nripendra Mishra, who retired two months ago. In what was a rather crowded contest, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) member J.S. Sarma finally emerged as the winner.

According to sources, the search committee screened some 29 applications for the post and disqualified 16 applicants. Some say that among those whose candidature was turned down was former telecom secretary D.S. Mathur who had, it is rumoured, applied even before the post was advertised! Interestingly, Mr Sarma’s name was initially not among the 13 shortlisted for the post.

Among those who have been pipped to the post are heavy industry secretary Satyanarayana Dash; telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura; consumer affairs secretary Yashwant Bhave; Maharashtra chief secretary Johny Joseph; former power secretary Anil Razdan and telecom commission member (technology) K. Sridhar. However, Mr Sarma who has a lot of exposure in the telecom sector as former Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary and chairman of the Telecom Commission faces a several challenges, including the vexed 3G issue. Given the "high-profile" nature of the job and its bearing on the crucial telecom sector, it is clear that he will have his work cut out, even if the DoT gives more "operational freedom" to TRAI, as it now intends to. Watch this space for updates.