Why Piyush Goyal Lashed Out: Kotak Governance Report

Sucheta Dalal 01 November 2017

Public Interest

A pedestrian corporate governance report from a committee headed by Uday Kotak created a media flutter by attracting a tongue-lashing from Piyush Goyal, the new railway minister who said it was ‘completely off the mark’. To the committee’s suggestion that some independent directors need to be domain experts, Mr Goyal reportedly said, “Just education doesn’t make a man an expert in a field. Some educated people run some of the biggest frauds that have happened in the country.” Mr Goyal, with his brilliant academic record as a rank-holding chartered accountant and law graduate, would find a place on any board, but many appointments by his Party have raised eyebrows.

Like the Congress’s, the BJP’s appointments to the boards of government companies have been doled out as favours. Sambit Patra, BJP’s national spokesperson, was appointed as an independent director on the board of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation at the end of September. In January 2017, Shazia Ilmi, former journalist, who jumped from the Aam Aadmi Party to the BJP, was appointed director of Engineers India Ltd, Asifa Khan, who ditched Congress for the BJP, was rewarded with the directorship of Hindustan Petroleum. The other appointments include: Rajika Kacheria, a cosmetologist to the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. Bharatsinh Parmar to the State Trading Corporation, Kiran Ghai Sinha to National Aluminum, Surama Padhy to Bharat Heavy Electricals, and Sipra Goon to Andrew Yule & Co. This list of ‘independent’ directors makes the reason for Mr Goyal’s outburst a little clearer.

Comments

User

R Varadarajan

9 years ago

It is always a privilege to be a part of the ruling party and you can be certain to get windfall sooner or later. Others will just have to grin and bear it!!!

c babu challa

9 years ago

For a peons appointment in a government concern there is a huge procedure. But or a Director's appointment there is no procedure. Also, there should be some transparency in their appointments, not just that the Master likes him or her. Mr.piyush goyal is right in saying that some of the great frauds have been done by well read people. That does not mean all well read do fraud or no fraud is done by people who are not well read. So the question of being read or not has no relevance regarding fraud. He himself should know whether the fraud of appointments is done by whom.

Suketu Shah

9 years ago

Piyush Goyal is not an econoimist.He shd refrain from such statements.BJP has India's best economist ever but have kept him in reserves instead of sending him opening batting-Dr Swamy.Ridiculous.

Mahesh S Bhatt

9 years ago

So please dismantle HRD/ Universities edicational Courses Piyush and let's have Jungle Raj which any which way is there Leader should first follow the systems which he creates but here Leader breaks all systems/sucks all subordinates & then creates an illusion that there is no one after him eg Hitler/Napolean/Indira Gandhi Modi and Life Goes On God Bless Mahesh Bhatt

Suketu Shah

9 years ago

The people at the top who are doing great unselfish work are Namo,Dr Swamy,Nitin Gadkari,Phadnavis,Suresh Prabhu,Mr Parrikar,Yogi and a few others.Otherwise some ministers are just like UPA.Look at Ganga cleaning.All money so far gone down the drain 3.5 yrs and Nitin Gadkari has rightly decided to divest fully 74% from Dredging Corp.

shadi katyal

9 years ago

All the people given such posts are unqualified to be even a peon as none of them even know the PSU workings. Kindly tell me how is BJP any different than UPA whom they blame often Patra, for instance, has done nothing but defend BJP on TV and closely associated with Home Minister. Ilami ,what does she know about engineering. The question to ask by the people is that how good are we now or different from UPA???
We wonder why nation never moves ahead when such people are appointed on the Board who have zero knowledge of any business as was during UPA with IAS officers running every PSU to the ground.