ISLAMABAD: Power Division has solicited approval from the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding reconstitution of Board of Directors (BoDs) of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) and Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) prior to seeking final approval from the federal cabinet.
According to sources, Power Division has sought premier’s approval regarding the reconstitution of new BoDs of the three power distribution companies including IESCO, FESCO and LESCO prior to placing the summary before the federal cabinet for consideration/final approval.
Interestingly, incumbent Chief Executive Officers of IESCO, FESCO and LESCO are not made part of proposed new BoDs, sources added.
Nominations by the federal government on the BoDs of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) are to be approved by the federal cabinet. However, in terms of Cabinet Division’s U.O.No. 7-1/20-Min-I, dated 16-03-2018, prior approval of the Prime Minister is required to place the summary before the federal cabinet, said sources.
The sources said that the name of Engineer Qamarul Islam Raja, an independent director is nominated to be the chairman of IESCO BoD while the names of Chaudhry Khalid Munir, Mujahid Pervaz Chattha, Nasir Mahmood Sheikh, Raja Talib Mehdi Khan, Fahad Malik and Major ( R ) Tahir Iqbal are nominated as the independent directors of IESCO BoD. Similarly, three names including Malik Ghulam Mustafa Kandwal, Naeem Iqbal, and Adnan Enver Baig as Consumer Representative/independent directors for IESCO BoD. Moreover, one representative of power division and one representative of finance division (not below Deputy Secretary/Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary) and one representative of the Government of Punjab (not below the rank of Bs-19) as Ex-officio is proposed to be the part of new BoD of IESCO.
For FESCO BoD, the name of M. Tehseen Alvi is proposed for the chairman while the names of Engineer M. Babar Ikram, Raja Ameer Hamza, Iftikhar Ahmed Ansari Nauman Khalid, Muhammad Momin Junaid and Rab Nawaz are nominated to be the Independent Directors and the names of Muhammad Humair Hayat Khan, Ali Ranjha, Mian Farrukh Iqbal as consumer representatives in the BoD of FESCO have been proposed. Similarly, one representative of power division and one representative of finance division (not below Deputy Secretary/Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary) and one representative of the Government of Punjab (not below the rank of Bs-19) as Ex-officio is proposed to be the part of new BoD of FESCO.
For LESCO BoD, the name of Mian Waqar Aziz as chairman BoD of LESCO while the names of Hafiz Muhammad Nouman, Ghias Uddin Ahmed, S. Muhammad Ali A Sadiq, Jahanzaib Badar, Mujahid Islam Billah, MA Goraya and Ahmed Bakhsh Tarar as Independent Directors of LESCO and the names of Ch. Arshad Iqbal, Saad Rao, and Faisal Khokhar are nominated as Consumer Representatives in the proposed new LESCO BoD. Similarly, one representative of power division and one representative of finance division (not below Deputy Secretary/Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary) and one representative of the Government of Punjab (not below the rank of Bs-19) as Ex-officio is nominated to be the part of new BoD of LESCO.
Minister for Energy (Power Division) has seen and authorised the submission of this summary, said sources.
Ministry of Energy (Power Division) is the administrative line ministry for ten power distribution companies (DISCOs). The afafirs of these companies (DISCOs) are governed under the provisions of the Companies Act 2017 and the Public Sector Companies (Corporate Governance) Rules, 2013 through a BoD nominated by the government as per provisions of Sections 165 of the Companies Act, 2017.
As per CGR, 2013, all these BoDs have independent directors equal to at least 1/3 of its total members who meet the Fit and Proper Criteria which inter alia includes that the persons: should be graduated, be a person of repute with financial integrity, not have been convicted, not have any conflict of interest nor is a political office holder and is also registered with Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG) as required under Section 166 of the Companies Act, 2017.
Present BoDs of IESCO, FESCO and LESCO were constituted in December 2020 for a period of three years and consumer representatives on these boards were nominated in May 2021. In pursuance of CGR, 2013, a performance contract was also signed between the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and BoDs of IESCO, FESCO and LESCO. However, Power Division, after careful assessment of the performance of DISCOs (including IESCO, FESCO and LESCO) has felt the need to reconstitute the BoDs to bring improvement in their performance.
Minister for Energy (Power Division) has conducted an extensive consultative exercise to shortlist the suitable candidates who meet the Fit and Proper Criteria and are registered with PICG. The shortlisted candidates fall in the category of Independent Directors including Consumer Representatives.
