Is favoritism played in the appointment of BBMB CHAIRMAN?
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ September 26,2023
Today, appointment committee of the cabinet has appointed Manoj Tripathi , chief engineer , central electricity authority (CEA) as Chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on deputation basis for a period of 3 years.
The state governments had already raised their objections with the central government over the new selection process for the post of chairman and members of BBMB but ignoring their objections, the central govt appointed Tripathi as the new chairman.
The newly appointed chairman’s appointment is approved by the ACC on the proposal of ministry of power. The interesting point is that he is just a simple graduate in engineering and that too in Mechanical. Means he is B.Tech in Mechanical engineering. Whereas Bhakra Beas Management Board looks after the hydro electric projects of the region- Bhakhra Dam,Pong Dam and Pandoh Dam . The BBMB is a statutory body that manages the Sutlej and Beas water resources and hydropower stations.
His predecessor, Sanjay Srivastava, who was appointed BBMB Chairman on November 25,2020 was AMIE (Electrical),ME (Electrical).
As per sources, newly appointed chairman Manoj Tripathi might have been picked for the post as he belongs to Nagpur, Maharashtra, where the ruling party’s right wing has its headquarter. Moreover, in the first invitation for chairman’s interview he was in not in the top eight finalists. Later, just two days before the interview again five candidates were called and he was kept at the last position i.e. at 13th position.
As per sources, his intelligence report was also not good as he might be involved in some official cases, issues. But, everything was overlooked and he is appointed as chairman of country’s prestigious project.
Is favoritism played in the appointment of BBMB CHAIRMAN?. As per available information candidates with higher professional degrees- doctorate, post graduations with spotless career etc from concerned fields were overlooked and a simple graduate and that too from mechanical field is appointed as chairman. Even Dr Madan Gopal Sharma, who is P.hD in electrical engineering and is working as chief engineer in Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) is also the top three finalist, is more qualified than Manoj Tripathi, is also ignored.
In February 2022, the central government notified changed rules that specifying technical qualifications of the post of Chairman as well as the Member (Power) and Member (Irrigation) in the BBMB.
The new rules state that for the post of Chairman, a candidate should be a civil, mechanical or electrical engineer having at least 25 years of regular experience, with the last five year as head of project in one of two defined areas.
The first area include construction or operation large hydroelectric project with capacity of 200 MW or more, or minimum 500 circuit kilometers transmission line of 132 kilovolts or above. The second area includes construction or operation of large dams having a height and length of 50 meters and 300 meters or more, or a barrage having minimum height and length of 15 meters and 350 meters, or a canal network with water carrying capacity of 1,000 cusecs and above.
The newly appointed chairman was promoted as chief engineer in his parent department just on January 3,2022.
