• The formation of a search-cum-selection committee has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
• It will be headed by PESB Chairperson Mallika Srinivasan and will have two other Members

New Delhi: The government has finally constituted a search-cum-selection committee and has widened its net to include Central government officers, including the Armed Forces and the All India Services, in its search for a Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) for Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), a document accessed by PSU Watch shows. ONGC, India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company, has been functioning without a full-time CMD for a year now. 

Search panel formed to scout for ONGC CMD

In an official communication dated February 4, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) told the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that in line with the request received from the ministry, the formation of a search-cum-selection committee has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the following proposals of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas… Selection to the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) through a Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC)…"

The committee will be headed by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) Chairperson Mallika Srinivasan and will consist of two Members — Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain and former Indian Oil Chairman B Ashok as outside expert of eminence.

The ACC has also approved the "Consideration of Central Government Officers, including those of the Armed Forces of the Union and the All India Services, for the post on immediate absorption basis," said the official communication accessed by PSU Watch.

ONGC without full-time CMD for a year

The ONGC CMD post fell vacant after former head Shashi Shanker superannuated in February 2021. On April 1, 2021, ONGC's former Director (Finance) Subhash Kumar was given additional charge of the post, which he held until he superannuated on December 31, 2021. For the next 48 hours, ONGC was without a CMD until the government decided to assign additional charge of the post to ONGC's Director (HR) Dr Alka Mittal on January 3 this year. 

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