KOCHI: At a time when the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) is struggling for existence and trying to overcome huge losses, the company is drifting into more trouble with no proper leadership.
Key posts of the CMD and two directors are lying vacant. It has been almost a year since the post of CMD has been lying vacant while its responsibilities are handled by the Joint Secretary of the Department of Fertiliser based in New Delhi. The charges of two directors are entrusted with senior officers of other Central PSUs. The position of chairman and managing director has been vacant since November 2016 after the Central government removed Jaiveer Srivastava from the post following allegations of irregularities related to the gypsum deal. Ousting a sitting CMD is unprecedented in the history of FACT.
Though A B Khare, chairman and managing director of Madras Fertilisers Limited (MFL), was given the additional charge of FACT, he served for only a few months and the responsibility was entrusted with S K Lohani, Joint Secretary of the Department of Fertilisers.
The posts of two directors - finance and technical - are also vacant. These responsibilities are also entrusted with the senior officers of other public sector fertiliser companies. The responsibility of technical director rests with a senior officer of MFL while the charge of the director of finance has been given to a senior officer of the Rashtriya Chemical Fertilisers (RCF).
D Nanda Kumar, who was appointed director of marketing last week, is the only full-time director in the company at present. Joining FACT as management trainee in 1981, he has held the posts of construction engineer in FEDO, chief manager in the petrochemical division, general manager and chief general manager in the marketing division. It is pointed out giving additional charges to officers of the company will not be effective as these officers will be busy with their parent company’s affairs.
“Making permanent appointments to key posts of a public sector company like FACT is crucial as every decision of the firm is connected to the government,” FACT trade union leader George Thomas told Express. “There has to be someone for liaisoning company mattes with the government. As far as FACT is concerned, the company is making efforts to register profit. Key posts remaining vacant will adversely affect its efforts.” He said the unions had submitted a representation to the government demanding filling the vacant posts.