NEW DELHI, AUG 1: A section of Board of Director of Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has accused its Chairman cum Managing Director of misleading the Government on a proposal to lower the retirement age of Corporation employees from the present 60 years to 58 years.The Board, at its meeting on June 19, was supposed to take up only two items listed on the agenda - agreement of the employees union with the management on the pay-scales and Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to be offered to ITDC employees.In a letter written to Tourism Minister Ananth Kumar, at least three directors have claimed that the ITDC CMD Asha Murthy's move to bring up the retirement age issue, instead of the VRS, was vehemently opposed by the entire Board and could not be taken up that day.Murthy, however, is alleged to have manipulated minutes of the meeting to show that the retirement age issue was unanimously approved by the Board on June 19. Ananth Kumar too is learnt to have forwarded the proposal to the Department of Public Enterprises and Department of Personnel and Training for ratification. Interestingly, Murthy proceeded on leave immediately after sending the minutes of the June 19 meeting to the Minister and has not attended office since then.ITDC employees too are reported to be up in arms against the move which could result in retrenchment of at least 50 personnel. The Corporation, which is slated to be disinvested shortly, should have - as per th norms - offered them VRS, claims the Joint Forum of ITDC Officers Association. The Association has also shot off a letter to the Prime Minister protesting against the move.The Forum has alleged that by retrenching Corporation employees, the Government was trying to benefit the private companies which were interested in buying the ITDC. The Government has already appointed Lazards as the global advisor for disinvestment of the Corporation and as per the rules, any PSU headed for privatisation shall offer VRS to its employees, the Forum officials claim.The Forum has also protested against the appointment of Civil Service officers as chairman-managing director of the Corporation, ignoring the ITDC cadre officials.Incidentally, the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) had, on May 3, reminded the Secretary of Department of Public Enterprises T.S. Vijayraghvan about his own orders that seniormost directors of PSUs and not civil servants should be appointed as chairman or managing director of the particular PSU.``By appointing IAS officers as chairmen or managing directors of a number of PSUs like Bharat Aluminium Coporation, IPCL, Indian Airlines etc, the Government was violating its own orders,'' the SCOPE pointed out.
