Calcutta, Sept. 18: The government is unlikely to extend Rajat Majumdar’s term as an independent director of two state-run power companies, Nabanna sources have said.
Majumdar, a retired IPS officer and Trinamul vice-president who is in the CBI’s custody in connection with the Saradha scandal, is an independent director on the boards of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) and the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL).
“The government won’t move a muscle to extend Majumdar’s term. He should have stepped down on his own by now,” a senior official said.
Majumdar’s WBSEDCL term ends in October and WBPDCL stint in December. The IPS officer, who retired in 2008 as the director-general of the state armed police, joined Trinamul in 2010. He was inducted into the WBSEDCL board in September 2011 and the WBPDCL board in March 2012.
During this period, Majumdar was also a director of Saradha, drawing a monthly salary of around Rs 10 lakh.
A former board member of one of the power utilities said that despite “several objections” from within the companies and “some sections” of the government, Majumdar’s position as board member was never challenged because of the apparent backing of some senior Trinamul leaders.
An independent director has a say in power tariff and regulation, trading and capacity augmentation planning.
Although questions were raised, Majumdar’s appointment was cleared, citing his stint as WBSEDCL’s adviser (security and vigilance) between 2003 and 2005.
As a serving IPS officer, Majumdar’s primary role in the company was to devise ways to reduce power pilferage, because of which the utility suffers huge losses.
“That is not sufficient to be an independent director. He did not have domain knowledge,” a source said.
He said that before Majumdar, the post of independent director had always been held by engineers or power sector experts working in private electricity utilities. Unlike independent directors — whose presence in a board is a statutory requirement — whole-time directors are employees of the company.
“Majumdar is the sole policeman to have served as a board member of WBSEDCL and WBPDCL,” the source added.
WBSEDCL sources said Majumdar got a monthly honorarium of around Rs 67,000, including house rent allowance, electricity allowance, medical allowance, leave travel concession, free hospitalisation and a chauffeur-driven car, as an independent director of the utility. He got a similar amount and the same facilities at WBPDCL.
“Apart from these, he always took his sitting fee of Rs 10,000 per board meeting from the two companies. Usually, one such meeting is held every month in each company. Although he rarely attended the meetings, official records always showed him as present,” a WBSEDCL source said.
Sources in WBSEDCL and WBPDCL said Majumdar’s contribution to the companies always remained a topic of discussion among engineers.
“He tried to meddle in affairs such as promotion of officials. Some officials were shunted out following differences with him,” a WBSEDCL official said.
