‘Accord high priority to developing human skills'
New Delhi   12-Apr-2011

Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) “should accord high priority to developing human skills in the area of management and innovation and focus on investing in the next generation of technology and in creating more capacities as well as product development and process improvement,” President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said on Monday.

In her inaugural address at the second ‘Public Sector Day' celebration organised by the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) here, Ms. Patil presented a blueprint for ensuring continued success of the public sector and called for empowerment of profit-making CPSEs and restructuring of sick and loss-making units on a priority basis.

“Transparency in working and operations which includes financial accountability and probity is of utmost importance,” she said while pointing out that formulation and implementation of appropriate policies assume greater significance in this perspective.

The President said the twin issues of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility hold the key for sustained success in future and noted the importance of implementation of the DPE guidelines on corporate governance in the right spirit.

Ms. Patil also urged the CPSEs to partner the agricultural sector and come up with a new viable model of engaging with the farming community to develop rural industry linkages as a part of corporate social responsibility. Earlier, the President presented the SCOPE meritorious awards in specialised fields for 2009-10. The SCOPE Gold trophy was bagged by Steel Authority of India Ltd. for environmental excellence and sustainable development while Bharat Electronics received an award for corporate governance.

The other award winning CPSEs were: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. for corporate social responsibility and responsiveness; Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. for R&D, technology development and innovation; IndianOil for best practices in human resource management; Punjab National Bank for best managed bank, financial institution/insurance company and National Safai Karmacharis Finance & Development Corporation for best managed PSE.