Thursday, September 15 2005 18:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government has mooted change in norms for appointment of independent directors on board of public sector firms to make even politicians and trade union leaders eligible for the posts.

"We have written to the Prime Minister suggesting change in norms for appointment of independent directors to include eminent persons from other walks of life (besides the present practice of appointing only professionals and technocrats)," Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Santosh Mohan Dev told sources in New Delhi .

Officials said the Petroleum Ministry has already suggested names of partymen for inclusion as independent directors on boards of Indian Oil Corp, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.

The Ministry has turned down a panel of IIM director, a Harvard Business School advisor and an ex-petroleum secretary suggested by a Search Committee, made up of Public Enterprise Selection Board and Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, and suggested its own list.

The Search Committee has called for bio-data's of the persons suggested by the Ministry before forwarding its recommendations to the Cabinet Committee on Appointments.

"Politicians have never been appointed on a navratna or miniratna PSU board, expect once when a youth leader was appointed on board of MTNL when Pramod Mahajan was the Telecom Minister," said an official.

All along only senior bureaucrats having served not less than 10 years as Joint Secretary - or university professors, technocrats, institute heads and leaders in the corporate sector, were appointed as independent directors on PSU Boards.

The Oil Ministry restricted professionals to barely one for each PSU and has suggested packing the remaining seats with politicians, the official said.