PANAJI
In a departure from recent trends, the State government on Monday appointed an officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) cadre as managing director of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), the State-owned PSU that primarily deals with industrial investment and administers the various industrial estates.
An order issued on Monday said Mekala Chaitanya Prasad (IAS) has been transferred and posted as Managing Director of Goa Industrial Development Corporation. Prasad also gets an additional charge of Director, Sports and Youth Affairs.
The same order also gives another IAS officer Ankita Anand who is Director of Information Technology the additional charge of Special Secretary (Home, Vigilance and Personnel).
Yet another appointment through the order posts Goa Civil Service officer, Derrick Neto as Managing Director of Kadamba Transport Corporation Ltd (KTCL), a position he has held for long years in the past.
Prasad's appointment as GIDC managing director gains significance at this juncture as the State-owned corporation is in the process of executing two financially significant deals -- utilization of the Dongri Tal-II coal block in Madhya Pradesh and a proposal to utilize a large land bank it took repossession from promoters of the controversial and defunct Special Economic Zone (SEZs).
Opposition parties have in the recent past alleged irregularities in the processes adopted by the GIDC and the government in dealing with both these issues.
