Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar will interview applicants for the coveted post of chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on July 19. The post of NHAI chairman is key to implementing the government?s ambitious target of constructing 20-km highways a day by November this year.
The committee has short-listed six canididates for interview out of 12 applicants for the post. The short-listed applicants include road secretary Brahm Dutt, existing NHAI chairman Brijeshwar Singh, civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, National Human Rights Commission secretary general KS Money and director general of foreign trade Ramendra Singh Gujral. Micro, small and medium enterprises secretary Dinesh Rai was one of the applicants, but it could not be ascertained whether he has been short-listed or not.
Chandrasekhar is the head of search-cum-selection committee formed to choose the right candidate for the job. After the committee selects the candidate, the file will be transferred to the appointment committee of the Cabinet for approval.
All the short-listed applicants other than Gujral are going to retire by February 2010 and see the post as a post-retirement employment opportunity. Dutt is retiring at the end of this month, Brijeshwar Singh will retire in August. Nambiar will supperannuate later this year, while Money will leave office in February 2010 and Gujral in 2013.
The government is trying to appoint the chairman since January 2010, but controversies have circled the appointment process. Last time, the government had to suspend the appointment process as road secretary Brahm Dutt, a member of the selection committee, was one of the applicants. The eligibility criteria for the post and the tenure has been revised since then. This time around, Dutt is not a member of the committee, sources said.