Par panel stresses need to mandatorily have SC, ST member in board of directors of PSUs, banks

New Delhi: A parliamentary committee on Friday stressed the need to mandatorily have a Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) member on the board of directors of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and banks among others, according to an official report.

The panel also said that it was “not satisfied at the complacent stance” taken by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) saying that there is no government policy of reservation on the recommendation of names by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) to the board-level posts in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

“The committee are of the view that there are highly qualified candidates among SCs/STs and that the ministry/DoPT should devise a concrete monitoring mechanism in coordination of other ministries/Department of Financial Services etc. to ensure that such candidates/members belonging to SC/ST category are mandatorily included in the decision making bodies of all ministries/departments/PSUs/banks etc.,” it said.

The observation was made in the second report of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training), headed by BJP MP Faggan Singh Kulaste.

The report, which was tabled on Friday, is on action taken by the government on the recommendations or observations contained in the panel’s 25th report.

The panel, in its 25th report, noted “negligible presence or no presence of SC and ST members” on the board of directors of almost all the ministries, departments, PSUs and banks among others.

The most common reason provided was that “the officers of SC/ST community could not be appointed to the post of members and chairman, primarily due to non-availability of suitable candidate”, the report had said.

The government, in its reply, said, “As of now, there is no government policy of reservation on recommendation of names by PESB to the board level posts in CPSEs.”

“The Committee are not satisfied at the complacent stance taken by the Ministry/DoPT wherein the action taken reply has stated that there is no government policy of reservation on recommendation of names by PESB to the board Level posts in CPSEs,” the report said.

The panel said that recommending three candidates from the SC/ST category out of the total 15 candidates for executive directors in various public sector banks for the year i.e. 2023-24 seems to be not satisfactory unless and until they are appointed in the board of directors.