KATHMADNU, DEC 05 –
The government has appointed Chief Secretary Lila Mani Poudel as the chairman of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
A Cabinet meeting on Tuesday took the decision so as to make the government-owned power utility more effective, according to Minister for Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Ek Nath Dhakal.
Until now, the energy secretary used to be the NEA chairman. Breaking the tradition of the Energy Minister heading NEA, former Energy Minister Gokarna Bista had made the energy secretary as the chairman of the power utility.
With the finance secretary also representing on the NEA board, there were issues of hierarchy. Now, with the chief secretary chairing the board, there will be more coordination between the ministries, said a government official.
The Cabinet also appointed Rameshwor Yadav as the managing director of NEA for a four-year term. He was selected through open competition.
In a separate decision, the Cabinet appointed Digambar Jha as the new chairman of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). Jha is the former managing director of Nepal Oil Corporation.
The post of NTA chairman had remained vacant since the resignation of Bhesh Raj Kanel in July.
The ministry on Friday had recommended three candidates — Jha, Biswa Nath Goyal and Anil Jha — for the post.
Also, the government appointed Dhan Raj Gyawali as NTA board member. Gyawali was working as an under-secretary at the legal division of the ministry.
Source : The Kathmandu Post
