New Delhi, July 7: The commerce ministry is reported to have recommended a one-year extension for its economic advisor, VS Baroocha. The previous one, also for the same period, expired last month. The matter will now be decided in the highest echelons soon. Ministry sources, however, feel strongly against the move. They maintain it had been initiated by `throwing to winds established rules.'

"The period of deputation/contract, including the period of deputation in another ex-cadre post held immediately preceding this appointment in the same organisation/department shall not exceed five years," the deputation/ contract norms state.

Baroocha had already completed more than six years in the ministry, far exceeding the prescribed tenure, sources said. What is more, they noted, the recommendation for another extension had come when the ministry had advertised for the post a few months ago and received many applications.Instead of entrusting the task of selecting a suitable candidate to the Union Public Services Commission, the ministry had apparently chosen to recommend a fresh extension for the present incumbent, sources said.The ministry had bypassed established rules and procedures and fallen a prey to "political manipulations," the sources alleged. They characterised the move as `unprecedented' in the annals of the ministry.

Baroocha joined the ministry as an additional economic adviser in 1991. Former commerce minister Devendra Prasad Yadav was against giving her an extension for one year, from June 1996.

The order relieving her from the post was to be served on June 3. But, the collapse of the BJP government proved helpful for the incumbent. She got an extension after the United Front government assumed office.

The move was believed to have had the express approval of commerce minister BB Ramaiah.

The commerce ministry has been drifting under a weak and imaginative set up in the economic division for some time now. There has been no deeper analysis of the causes for the debacle on the export front in fiscal 1996-97. Against the backdrop, the need for an economist of national or international repute cannot be over-emphasised. In the past, the division had been headed by such eminent economists as Manmohan Singh, Vijay Laxman Kelkar, petroleum secretary, and Jayanta Roy, a World Bank economist.

And they had been able to provide strategic inputs for accelerating the export growth.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.