The government is likely to appoint Atif Sabir Khan as Chairman Board of Directors (BoD) of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) in place of Naveed Ismail, as the company has witnessed a visible decline during the latter’s term, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
The other independent directors of NTDC will be Major General M Azeem Asif (retired), Khaqan Najeeb, Ishaq Aulakh and Mahreen Khan, whereas there will be no change in non-executive directors and executive director.
The sources said the Power Division has sent its summary to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his nod before placing it before the Federal Cabinet for final approval, adding that approval can be obtained through circulation.
The existing Board was appointed on January 28, 2021 with the recommendations of Tabish Gauhar, former SAPM, but during the period the company has remained in management crisis as five Managing Directors were changed within a short span of one and a half years.
As a result, the performance of the company has witnessed a visible decline. During the same period, all senior management has been locked in serious litigation which shows that Board has not been able to have effective conflict resolution mechanism nor does there appear to be a clear strategy. Major donor-funded projects have seen alarming delays and the issues have repeatedly been highlighted by the Economic Affairs Division and the donor agencies.
The issues infighting amongst the senior management of NTDC was also witnessed at almost all the meetings of Senate Standing Committee on Power, headed by Senator Saif Ullah Abro.
