New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to get the eighth chairman in the range of nearly six years since August 2015.
The center on Monday repatriated Uttarakhand Cadre IAS Officer, SS Sandhu, to his home cadres to take over as the main secretary after serving as chairman Nhai for almost 19 months, the announcement of a new chairman might soon be.
Often changes in road building heads and maintenance organizations have been a problem since 2006 except three years during 2012-15 when R P Singh serves the full term.
Singh is the last chairman chosen through the search-cum-selection process.
Officials and industrial people say that changes that often can affect planning, reform, and long-term implementation.
NHAI was assigned to develop a road network under an ambitious Bharatmala program, approved during the first term of the Modi government.
NHAI has a Mammoth target to build more NHS, collect RS 30,000 Crore from monetization of assets and completed claims of private contracting disputes with RS 41,500 crore tones in the next nine months (in March 2022).
Two predecessors of Sandhu – N N N Sinha and Sanjeev Ranjan – have served as head of NHAI for seven and five months.
“This body deals with complicated things related to contracts and disputes, which need to be handled quickly and correctly.
Each officer needs time to understand and learn things so he can give.
But in most cases, during the process Learning is finished, officers are transferred.
It’s also bad for other employees because they often need to change their work approaches and styles to understand their chairmen and priorities, “said a senior executive from the main highway development.
Two main posts in NHAI – Members (Finance) and Members (PPP) – have been lying empty for months.