PM Gets Tough On Key Areas

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pulled up the petroleum ministry for the inordinate delay in implementing the decisions of the Cabinet and its committees. A list of 30-odd such Cabinet decisions dating back to 2004 and as recent as July 2007 has been forwarded by the cabinet secretariat for action by the petroleum ministry.

Citing the concerns of the Prime Minister in his recent letter, cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar has asked petroleum secretary MS Srinivasan to expeditiously review the decisions of the Cabinet and cabinet committees and formulate a ?time-bound plan of action to ensure expeditious implementation of all the decisions…? He has also asked that a consolidated action taken report be sent to the cabinet secretariat.

In the hard-hitting letter, the cabinet secretary further told Srinivasan, ?You may kindly ensure personally that the report is not sent to the cabinet secretariat in a routine manner and that it is forwarded only after you have approved it.?

When contacted, a senior petroleum ministry official said, ?This is a routine letter and has also been addressed to various other ministries.?

Some of the cabinet decisions mentioned in the list include the signing of an MoU with Myanmar and Bangladesh for the import of natural gas, the import of natural gas through transnational gas pipelines, the merger of Kochi Refineries with BPCL, and a proposal to allow BPCL and HPCL to import and export crude oil directly instead of going through Transchart.