OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE COMMISSION AND

THE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

189. Clause 53 -deals with- the officers and employees of Commission and Appellate Tribunal, sub-clause 53(l) reads. "The Commission or Appellate Tribunal, as the case may be, shall appoint such officers and other employees as the Commission or Appellate Tribunal, as the case may be considers necessary for the efficient discharge of its functions under this Act subject to such conditions as may be prescribed".

190. It was submitted to the Committee in a representation that since both the functions i.e., licensing and regulation involve a lot of technical intricacies, it is desirable that the talent pool available with the Government should be suitably utilised for effective licensing and regulation of the converged telecorn sector.

191. The Dot has been of the view that since the legislation will repeal the TRAI Act, Clauses 75 to 76 of the Bill respectively provide for the transfer of proceedings pending before TRAI and TDSAT to the new Commission and to the new Appellate Tribunal, with effect from the date of their establishment. Similarly, Clause 93(5) provides for the dissolution of TRAI and TDSAT with effect from the respective dates of establishment of the Commission and of the new Appellate body. Further, it was submitted that it was not considered desirable to mention in this legislation about the transfer of officers and employees, as these are matters of administrative detail.

192. The Committee is not satisfied with the explanation given by the Department. The Committee feels that it would be useful to provided for the transfer of per sons working in TRAI and TDSAT in Clause 53(l) in order to avoid any dispute at a future date. Further, the employees of any official agency, the Committee feels, should not be ordinarily pushed into a state of uncertainty about their future career and they need to be assured about the same. Hence the Committee recommends that the following proviso be added after sub-clause (1) of Clause 53: