An expert committee, headed by former Chief Secretary Paul Antony, which on Thursday submitted its report on granting autonomy with accountability to public sector units in the State, has recommended functional and financial autonomy in 28 subjects.
The committee, which handed over the report to Industries Minister P. Rajeeve, has recommended that the director boards of the institutions be given powers in formulating projects and implementing modernisation measures.
They should also be given powers to avail themselves of loans without government guarantee from banks.
More powers
The companies should be able to redeploy its employees, phase out outdated posts and decommission outdated machinery, take up capital expenditure, fix prices on its products and implement voluntary retirement schemes. Managerial and technical posts should be able to be filled up through contract appointments, the report said.
The committee also recommended powers for the PSUs to enter into joint ventures. The government should make clear beforehand its expectations from each PSU. It should take the policy decision and leave the powers for day-to-day decisions to the PSU director board.
Each PSU should enter into an MoU with the government with expectations for the year, which will be evaluated at the end of the year.
Experts from the respective field should be present on the director board of each PSU. The Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board (RIAB) should be reconstituted as Board for Public Sector Transformation (BPT).
Another recommendation was for the PSUs to enter into tripartite agreement with Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and Kerala Finance Corporation (KFC) to avoid the delays in getting government funds.
21 PSUs turn profitable
Mr. Rajeeve said that 21 PSUs had turned profitable this year, with the government aiming to turn 30 PSUs profitable in the next financial year.
“We are going through a situation in which PSUs will become a speciality of just Kerala as the policy at the national level is one of monetisation of assets. The LDF Government’s aim is to protect PSUs and showcase it as an alternative before the country. However, for that these institutions have to become competitive and profitable. The committee which was appointed to study the outdated laws in the industries sector have submitted its report, which can be implemented within two months. The audits have all become up to date,” said Mr. Rajeeve.
He said that all PSUs have been directed to submit their annual reports by June 17. Some PSUs are still fully dependent on the government for working capital or loans or even selling their products. However, this situation has to change as no PSU will be allowed to continue in such a manner.
Industries Department Principal Secretary A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish presided over the function.
