SAIL’s New SOP: Blocking Calls & Emails, Dodging Accountability, Ignoring Problems – Interim CMD Leads!
Access Denied: What Blocking Calls Says About Leadership in SAIL is anyone's guess!
In most Public Sector Undertakings, a change at the top often brings with it a wave of reform—some visible, some subtle—but largely aimed at improving institutional functioning. However, the recent developments within Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) appear to signal a rather perplexing and troubling shift in governance culture following the appointment of its Interim CMD.
The emerging “Golden Mantra” seems less about transparency and more about insulation—echoing the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi’s proverbial third monkey: hear no evil, or in this case, hear nothing critical about oneself.
Top officials within SAIL, it is learnt, have grown increasingly intolerant of scrutiny. Difficult questions—let alone criticism—are no longer being engaged with, but actively avoided. In a startling departure from expected public accountability norms, a new informal Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) appears to have taken root: block those who ask uncomfortable questions.
This practice is not limited to isolated instances. Several senior functionaries, including Director (Commercial) T.N. Natarajan, and most recently Interim CMD K.K. Singh, are part of this growing trend of disengagement. Calls from journalists or stakeholders raising serious queries are allegedly being blocked altogether.
The pattern, worryingly, extends beyond phone calls. Inputs received by www.indianpsu.com suggest that emails containing probing or critical questions are being filtered and blocked at the server level itself—effectively shutting down any channel of meaningful communication.
For an organisation of SAIL’s stature, such practices raise serious concerns. Public sector entities are expected to uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability, not retreat into silence when faced with legitimate questions.
This evolving “SOP” reflects not just a communication breakdown, but a deeper institutional discomfort with scrutiny.
Will Secretary Steel or the concerned Ministers direct these gentlemen about something known as communication????
What transparency indeed.
We Report – You Decide…
