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New Delhi
By a stroke of Road Transport & Highways Minister CP Joshi’s pen, the race for the coveted post of DG in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has got simplified, though it will now take longer to fill up the post, which has been lying vacant for over four months now.
In a decision taken early this month, Joshi overturned former MoRTH Secretary Brahm Dutt’s noting and upgraded the annual confidential report (ACR) of Chief Engineer, Standard (Research & Technology) C Kandasamy in the Ministry. This has paved the way for Kandasamy to become a claimant to the DG’s post.
Kandasamy was aggrieved for the past three years as in a sudden decision, the then Transport Minister TR Baalu ordered his repatriation from the post of NHAI member (Technical) to MoRTH. Sources said Baalu wanted Kandasamy to be suspended overnight as he was displeased over the tardy progress of National Highway Development Project (NHDP) in his home state of Tamil Nadu.
However, when officials persuaded Baalu that Kandasamy’s suspension was not possible in a knee-jerk action, the then Minister had him repatriated to his parent Transport Ministry as Chief Engineer and was assigned less significant work of looking after the Standard, Research and Technology wing.
Despite the short shrift that Kandasamy received at the hands of Maran and Dutt, then NHAI Chairman Gokul Ram assessed his work as “outstanding” in his ACR. On the contrary, Dutt downgraded Kandasamy’s ACR by three notches to “average” even after Baalu had ceased to be a Minister after the last Lok Sabha elections in May, 2009.
Kamal Nath, who succeeded Baalu as Transport Minister, did not intervene in the matter for about two years to either rectify the ACR or go by Dutt’s assessment. As a result, Kandasamy’s promotion got stuck. Adding insult to Kandasamy’s injury, RP
Indoria was promoted to the ADG’s post despite being junior to him.
Last year, the Ministry even sent a panel of two names – Indoria and another ADG Kamlesh Kumar – for the ACC to approve one of the two for the DG’s post. Kandasamy was left out of the panel as he could not be promoted.
But after taking over the reins of the Ministry, Joshi overturned Dutt’s decision, endorsed Gokul Ram’s assessment of Kandasamy and rated his ACR as “outstanding”. This has paved the way for Kandasamy to become the senior-most ADG and eventually to be the next DG.
However, the whole process may take some time as Kandasamy’s promotion hinges on a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting followed thereafter by the approval of the ACC.
By a stroke of Road Transport & Highways Minister CP Joshi’s pen, the race for the coveted post of DG in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has got simplified, though it will now take longer to fill up the post, which has been lying vacant for over four months now.
In a decision taken early this month, Joshi overturned former MoRTH Secretary Brahm Dutt’s noting and upgraded the annual confidential report (ACR) of Chief Engineer, Standard (Research & Technology) C Kandasamy in the Ministry. This has paved the way for Kandasamy to become a claimant to the DG’s post.
Kandasamy was aggrieved for the past three years as in a sudden decision, the then Transport Minister TR Baalu ordered his repatriation from the post of NHAI member (Technical) to MoRTH. Sources said Baalu wanted Kandasamy to be suspended overnight as he was displeased over the tardy progress of National Highway Development Project (NHDP) in his home state of Tamil Nadu.
However, when officials persuaded Baalu that Kandasamy’s suspension was not possible in a knee-jerk action, the then Minister had him repatriated to his parent Transport Ministry as Chief Engineer and was assigned less significant work of looking after the Standard, Research and Technology wing.
Despite the short shrift that Kandasamy received at the hands of Maran and Dutt, then NHAI Chairman Gokul Ram assessed his work as “outstanding” in his ACR. On the contrary, Dutt downgraded Kandasamy’s ACR by three notches to “average” even after Baalu had ceased to be a Minister after the last Lok Sabha elections in May, 2009.
Kamal Nath, who succeeded Baalu as Transport Minister, did not intervene in the matter for about two years to either rectify the ACR or go by Dutt’s assessment. As a result, Kandasamy’s promotion got stuck. Adding insult to Kandasamy’s injury, RP
Indoria was promoted to the ADG’s post despite being junior to him.
Last year, the Ministry even sent a panel of two names – Indoria and another ADG Kamlesh Kumar – for the ACC to approve one of the two for the DG’s post. Kandasamy was left out of the panel as he could not be promoted.
But after taking over the reins of the Ministry, Joshi overturned Dutt’s decision, endorsed Gokul Ram’s assessment of Kandasamy and rated his ACR as “outstanding”. This has paved the way for Kandasamy to become the senior-most ADG and eventually to be the next DG.
However, the whole process may take some time as Kandasamy’s promotion hinges on a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting followed thereafter by the approval of the ACC.
