*The Light of Andamans :: Issue 21 :: 28 May 2007*

*Under the shadow of CBI raids*
Admn embarks on management-misadventure

Paul James was an enigma as the director of shipping services. There were
wild allegations of rampant corruption in the department during his tenure.
It was also alleged that he had set his house on fire himself to avoid
recovery of incriminating documents. But everything is under a thick veil of
secrecy. Nothing has come out so far. There were CBI raids in the offices of
the director and it is alleged that raids were conducted at his places in
Kerala also.

The net result of this entire hullabaloo was that the administration went on
the defensive. It worked overtime to devise ways and means to check
corruption in shipping department. In its wisdom it embarked upon a plan to
have three directors instead of one. The DANICS lobby found an excellent
chance to push one of its own into the cushy job as Director
(Administration) with an air-conditioned cabin furnished at a cost of Rs 10
lakhs, it is alleged. Another cabin (naturally air-conditioned) was readied
for the Principal Director. The Secretary (Shipping) doubles as the
Principal Director also. He, even otherwise could have had a tight leash on
the department in his capacity as Secretary (Shipping).

The third one, Director (Operations) is again from the Indian Navy. He is
the man responsible for actually providing services to the people of the
islands and run the vessels in the sea. He is in-charge of Operations and
Maintenance, the two most vital arms of the department. He is the public
face of the department who gets all the flaks for shortage of vessels,
schedules going awry and angry mobs raiding his office whenever there is a
dislocation.

He however, sits in a sparsely furnished cabin on the ground floor of a
single storey building near Marine Gate.

The Director (Administration) who has got nothing to do with the actual
services rendered by the department, controls the all the vital arms of the
department with planning, finance, legal affairs, purchase & procurement,
awarding contracts etc.

An individual untrained and inexperienced in running and maintaining
essential services, Rajesh Kumar, Director (Administration) is not likely to
understand the imperatives of a vital service like shipping that is the life
line of the islands. No wonder, ships remain under repair for want of small
spares and other materials for months on end.

Rajesh Kumar's salary is drawn against the vacant post of Deputy Director.
The designated Deputy Director, Veeraiah, holds the substantive post of
Manager (International Safety Management) a mandatory post under the new
shipping regulations. But he is engaged in deployment of vessels, ticketing
and such other works. International Safety Management is an orphan.


*Shortage of technical officers*

A&N Shipping Department is the second largest vessel owners after the
Shipping Corporation of India. There is no Marine Engineer in the department
to supervise the vast fleet of vessel for decades. The number of Assistant
Marine Engineers has shrunk from four a couple of years ago, to two at
present. A couple of Chief Engineers of the ships are doing the jobs of
AMEs.

There is no urgency in the department to fill up these vital vacant posts
that will have a positive impact on the maintenance, improve the
availability of vessels and hence improvement in service.

According to Cdr. Rajender Kumar, DSS(O), no marine engineer would join for
less than Rs 1.00 lakh a month. He has a point. But if the administration
can accommodate a director through 'administrative adjustment' it can also
find a way to get a marine Engineer.

In the meantime, corruption continues unabated, according to insiders. Only
the modalities and the beneficiaries have changed.


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