The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI, the government’s watchdog for the telecom sector in India, is likely to get a new boss from the private sector. According to a report by the Indian Express, the Centre may amend the rules to appoint a new TRAI chairperson from the private sector. This would mean that the TRAI Act (1997) would see an amendment in its Section 4. This particular section gives the power to the central government for appointing the TRAI chairperson who possess special knowledge in the field of telecommunications among other things. So far, TRAI never saw appointment from the private sector.
The reason for no appointment from the private sector was that there were no clear eligibility norms so far, the IE report quoted an official as saying. The current plan by the Modi government envisages appointing any person from the private sector who has an experience of at least three decades. She/he should have served in the capacity of a CEO or a board member in the corporate sector.
Presently, the TRAI appointment rules state that the person selected as the telecom watchdog boss must have held a position of Secretary or Additional Secretary in the central government for a period of three years. The IE report also added that the Centra has been refraining from appointing the TRAI boss from the private sector as it would have presented a case of the conflict of interest.
PD Vaghela, a Gujarat-cadre 1986-batch officer, is the current TRAI chairperson. Previously, he held teh post of Secretary at the Department of Pharmaceuticals. RS Sharma was Vaghela’s predecessor. Sharma was a Jharkhand-cadre 1978-batch IAS officer.