 bill no 81 of  2016 the timely filling of vacancies in central public sector enterprises bill, 2016 by shri baijayant panda, mp abillto require the central government and the public enterprises selection board to make timely arrangements so that board-level vacancies in central public sector enterprises are filled expeditiouslybe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencementdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—5(a) "board-level vacancy" refers to those posts in public sector enterprises forwhich the public enterprises selection board recommends a name for appointment, namely, the posts of chairperson, managing director or chairperson-cum-managing director (level i) and functional director (level ii);(b) "public enterprises selection board" refers to the board of the same nameconstituted by the government of india by a resolution dated august 30th 1974 and as reviewed from time to time;10(c) "anticipated vacancy" refers to a vacancy for a post that arises due to thesuperannuation of the personnel who is occupying that post; and(d) "unanticipated vacancy" refers to a vacancy for a post that could not havebeen reasonably foreseen, such as when the vacancy arises due to the death or resignation of the personnel who is occupying that post3 for every anticipated vacancy, the public enterprises selection board shall—15(a) send the job description of the post sixteen months in advance to theconcerned ministry for comments;role of public enterprises selection board for anticipated vacancies(b) finalise the job description of the post within fifteen days of complying withclause (a), irrespective of whether the concerned ministry has responded with comments or not;20(c) cause advertisement of the vacancy to be issued one year in advance; and (d) take all such steps as may be necessary to ensure that a final recommendationas to who should be appointed to fill the vacancy is sent to the concerned ministry six months in advance25explanation—this provision shall operate without prejudice to any other function or act of the public enterprises selection board that is not inconsistent with the requirements under this act, such as selecting a reserve recommendation for a post and keeping it in a sealed cover, to be disclosed only if necessary304 for every anticipated vacancy, once the requirements of section 3 have been fulfilled by the public enterprises selection board, the central government shall, two months in advance of the vacancy, finalise and notify the details of the personnel who has been chosen to fill the post once it becomes vacantrole of central government for anticipated vacancies35explanation—this provision shall be satisfied if a designated mechanism of the central government, such as the appointments committee of the cabinet, finalises and notifies the details of the personnel who has been chosen to fill the post once it becomes vacantrole of central government in achieving continuity405 once the requirements of section 4 have been fulfilled, the central government shallalso take steps to ensure that the personnel whose details have been notified shall, as early as possible, work closely with the personnel currently occupying the post to understand the characteristics of the role, including by providing that the former shall shadow the latter in the performance of his functions, where possible6 for every unanticipated vacancy, the public enterprises selection board shall takeall such steps as may be necessary to ensure that a final recommendation as to who should be appointed to fill the vacancy is sent to the concerned ministry within four months of the arising of vacancyrole of public enterprises selection board for unanticipated vacancies457 for every unanticipated vacancy, the central government shall, within one month ofreceiving the recommendation from the public enterprises selection board under section 6, finalise and notify the details of the personnel who has been chosen to fill the postrole of central government for unanticipated vacanciesdesignated officials8 within one month of the coming into force of this act, the central government shall notify an official, not below the rank of additional secretary, who shall be responsible for ensuring that the central government fulfils its obligations under sections 4 and 7penalties59 (1) failure of the central government to fulfil its obligations under sections 4 and 7shall make the official referred to in section 8 liable to—(a) a fine of one thousand rupees for each day of delay in finalizing and notifying a personnel as provided for under these sections;(b) such other disciplinary action as the central government may deem fit:10provided that no penalty shall be imposed if the official proves that the failure tofulfil these obligations was due to circumstances beyond his or her control(2) failure of the public enterprises selection board to fulfil its obligations under sections 3 and 6 shall make its chairperson liable to a fine of one thousand rupees for each day of delay in making a recommendation as provided for under these sections:15provided that no penalty shall be imposed if the chairperson proves that thefailure to fulfil these obligations was due to circumstances beyond his or her controlprotection of actions taken in good faith10 no suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any officer, employee, agency or any person exercising any power or performing any duty under this act for anything which is in good faith done on intended to be done in pursuance of this act20power to make rules11 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act25(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonscentral public sector enterprises constitute a key element of our economy ensuring proper management and corporate governance of these enterprises is crucial not just because of our obligation to utilize taxpayer money in the most efficient way, but also because ineffective leadership at these enterprises can have adverse ramifications for the economy as a wholecurrently, there exist guidelines from the public enterprises selection board and the appointments committee of the cabinet which prescribe practices that aim to ensure that no board-level vacancy in public sector enterprises lies unfilled for a long period of time however, there is a need to provide statutory force to these practices, especially as we continue to see large number of board-level posts remaining vacant today despite these guidelines there is also a need to fix responsibility, accompanied by penalties for breaching the same, so that every incentive exists for the timely filling of vacancies that arise finally, there is a need to recognise that the advance identification of personnel who will fill vacancies once they arise is important not just for avoiding delays, but also for ensuring some continuity in the management of the public sector enterpriseshence this billfebruary 24, 2016 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 11 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto require the central government and the public enterprises selection board to make timely arrangements so that board-level vacancies in central public sector enterprises are filled expeditiously————(shri baijayant panda, mp)gmgipmrnd—29ls(s3)—16042016