Why does the regulator’s office not attract non-bureaucrats?
The screening committee set up to select the next chairman of telecom sector regulator TRAI has shortlisted three candidates—finance secretary Arun Ramanathan, Consumer affairs secretary Yashwant Bhave and former BSNL director S D Saxena. Many a times it has been pointed out that the Independent Regulator’s office should not become a sinecure for retired bureaucrats and the job should be equally attractive for experts in the field. But, this development shows that these institutions, still only attract bureaucrats. What puzzles me is that why does the regulator’s office not attract non-bureaucrats?
Before the Sixth Pay Commission this could be explained on the basis of the differences in the salaries. However, at least in my view a salary of Rs. 300,000 for the post of a chairman TRAI should be attractive for industry experts. Agreed that this compensation may be peanuts in comparison to the salary package that the industry offers, but our view is that such comparisons between the salaries is not productive. Compensation for heading institutions with a public service component cannot be purely driven by the market. Even in the developed world there are salary differentials and people do go back and forth between industry academia and government. The TRAI Act (excerpt below) does not preclude industry experts to apply but they have shown no enthusiasm even in a sector that is so liberalized.
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“4. The Chairperson and other members of the Authority shall be appointed by the Central - Government from amongst persons who have special knowledge of, and professional experience in telecommunication, industry, finance, accountancy, law, management or consumer affairs:
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Provided that a person who is, or has been , in the service of Government shall not be appointed as a member unless such person has held the post of Secretary or Additional Secretary, or the post of Additional Secretary and Secretary to the Government of India or any equivalent post in the Central Government or the State Government for a period of not less than three years.” |
However, in my view this will change as the history of these institutions is still very nascent. The Sixth Pay Commission just kicked in. Thus, just lamenting about a bureaucrat being appointed is self defeating what is important if due process was followed in the selection process. The process should be transparent and ensure that the appointee is accountable to the public and there should be checks and balances if he does not.
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Tags: Institutions, regulation