Power Division reconstitutes NTDC Board

15 Jun, 2023

ISLAMABAD: The Power Division has reconstituted the Board of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) after months of internal working and persistent concerns expressed by the Senate Standing Committee on Power.

The new board comprises 13 directors, of which seven are from the private sector and six from the public sector.

According to a notification issued by the Power Division on Wednesday, composition of new Independent Directors of BoD of NTDC will be as follows: (i) Khalid Ishaq (Chairman); (ii) Babar Iqbal; (iii) Naweed Sharif; (iv) Dr Naveed Arshad;(v) Reham Ali Otho; (vi) Rehmatullah Baloch and (vii) Ayla Majid.

The composition of Non-Executive Directors is as follows: (i) Additional Secretary-1, Power Division; (ii) Joint Secretary (Transmission) Power Division;(iii) Member (Energy), Planning Commission; (iv) Managing Director, PPIB; and (v) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CPPA-G. Managing Director (NTDC) is Executive Director of the BoD.

According to the notification, the new Board will be effective immediately and until further orders, which implies that the previous Board has been dissolved.

The Power Division has requested all the concerned entities to take necessary action as per Companies Ordinance 1984, Public Sector Companies Corporate Governance Rules 2013 and State Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Act 2023 for completion of requisite formalities.

The sources said the Power Division was in the process of finalizing the names of new board of NTDC as some of the “very influential” parties were resisting it. The proposed names of Board members have been altered on a couple of occasions.

The Senate Standing Committee on Power had also raised objections on the names of previous Board including the Chairman Naveed Ismail.

The NTDC recently showed the door to one of its Deputy Managing Directors (DMD) Manzoor Ahmad with immediate effect.

According to the notification, the Board of Directors in its 247th meeting held on May 31, 2023 unanimously resolved and approved effective immediately to terminate the services of Manzoor Ahmad as DMD (AD&M) NTDC, without any cause, in accordance with clause 12.1.1 of the employment agreement of April 30, 2022. Moreover, the Board approved the payment of salary in lieu of notice period.

On May 2, 2023, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Power, Senator Saifullah Abro had sought a comprehensive report from Power Division on action against two Deputy Managing Directors (DMDs) of NTDC.

On April 27, 2023, Standing Committee on Power in its meeting had urged Power Division to remove two Deputy Managing Directors of NTDC, Zain Banatwala and Manzoor Ahmed immediately, terming their appointments “dubious”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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