Nanjundappa said: "The government takes a decision to sell off shares of public-sector units (PSUs) without referring to the commission. Sometimes they go for a second opinion also on the recommendations already made by the commission. I, therefore, felt that there was no point in trying to sit and work on the commission.".

Commission chairman GV Ramakrishna said Nanjundappa put in his papers soon after the divestment panel's meeting here and that he had already forwarded it to the government.

Ramakrishna, however, said the commission was going ahead with its last report which would be submitted by early August. Nanjundappa is the second member to have resigned from the commission. Former chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) M R R Nair had resigned from the commission last year to seek greener pastures abroad and was replaced by RajendraSingh, chairman of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

Nanjundappa had told newsmen earlier this week that the entire commission could resign by July 24, as the government was delaying decision on the panel's recommendations for restructuring and strategic sales in select PSUs.

Ramakrishna, however, ruled out any such possibility and said the panel would submit its report on the remaining two PSUs, referred to it by the government till March 1997, by early August.

In the mean time the government could make some major announcements for setting up a permanent implementation mechanism to monitor disinvestment of PSUs as per the commission's recommendations.

Ramakrishna, along with other members of the commission had met the ministers of finance and industry on a few occasions in the last one month. However, the commission shot a letter to the government last week protesting against moves to appoint a global advisor for disinvestment in India Tourism Development Corporation. Industry ministerSikander Bakht had said earlier this month that the government was considering setting up of an implementation mechanism for monitoring the disinvestment process, and had lauded the commission's performance.