A parliamentary committee has expressed deep concerns over bulk vacancies in government-run companies or Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) under the finance ministry, calling it an “acute governance deficit.”
Mahtab’s panel labelled the reply as “largely procedural and fails to offer concrete, outcome-oriented solutions to resolve the acute governance deficit While the government informed the committee that the selection to Board-level posts is undertaken by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). The finance standing committee led by senior BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said in its latest report, “It is deeply concerning that 53 CPSEs continue to operate without regular Chairmen and Managing Directors (CMDs), while a staggering 70% of Independent Director posts (533 out of 758) remain vacant. The Committee also expressed deep concern that DIPAM, despite overseeing an ambitious value maximization agenda, is operating with a crippling 43% vacancy rate. Maintaining only 51 officers against a sanctioned strength of 89—with critical shortages at the Director (11 vacancies) and Under Secretary (8 vacancies) levels. Such significant manpower shortages in a field requiring highly specialized financial and legal expertise 7 undermine the Department’s capacity to effectively manage the disinvestment target and the recycling of prime real estate assets.”
The panel said it “severely jeopardizes the Department’s ability to execute complex transactions like the IDBI Bank sale or finalize CPSE MoUs.
