Sebi withdraws press release on unprofessional work culture
New Delhi (PTI): Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday withdrew its press release issued in September 4, which addressed claims of unprofessional work culture, stating that these concerns are "misplaced" and reaffirmed that employee-related issues will be managed internally.
The withdrawal came days after a protest by a large number of Sebi employees outside the regulator's headquarters on September 5, a day after the press release. They had demanded the withdrawal of the statement and the resignation of Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch.
In a statement on Monday, Sebi acknowledged the critical role its employees have played over the past thirty-six years in shaping the Indian securities market into one of the most dynamic and well-regulated markets globally.
Sebi said it addresses employee-related matters through appropriate internal mechanisms.
"Following constructive discussions with representatives of all grades of officers, Sebi and its employees have reaffirmed that such issues are strictly internal and will be managed in accordance with the organization's high standards of governance and within a time-bound framework," the regulator said.
Accordingly, the press release issued on September 4 has been withdrawn.
The decision to retract the press release came after employees strongly condemned the unauthorized dissemination of internal communications.
Sebi employees have reiterated their commitment to resolving concerns amicably through established internal channels, ensuring that such matters remain internal and managed within a time-bound framework.
"Employees have strongly condemned the unauthorized release of internal communication and have confirmed that all concerns shall be addressed amicably through established internal channels," the statement noted.
For Puri, protests and internal issues have come at a time when she is probably facing the most challenging times in her stint. The career banker-turned-regulator is battling speculations on whether a conflict of interest made her go slow on the probe against Adani Group and a raft of other allegations around it.
In what is unprecedented for any financial regulator, around 500 employees wrote to the Finance Ministry on August 6, against the top management, for what they called a "toxic" work environment, which includes instances of public humiliation and shouting down.
After the publishing of a media report about the letter, Sebi responded with a press release, which stated such claims are "misplaced", which seemed to have irked the employees.
The regulator stated that some "external elements" had instigated its employees into believing that they shouldn't be held to high standards of performance and accountability, though, it did not provide specific details.
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Ex-minister Ramanath Rai hits out at BJP leader Ashoka for ‘irresponsible’ comments on KC Venugopal
Mangaluru: Congress leader and former minister B Ramanath Rai slammed BJP leader R Ashoka for calling AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal an agent of the party high command, and asked if the general secretary and other office-bearers in the BJP were commission agents too.
Rai, who addressed a press meet at the Congress office in the city on Friday, expressed fury over the recent comments of the BJP leader that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was presenting himself in a shameless manner in public life. Ashoka, who is also Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, had said that the Congress government had ‘broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies’.
“Ashoka has spoken with sheer ignorance and displays his lack of maturity, as he often does while facing the media. KC Venugopal has been working at organization of the party and it is unbecoming of Ashoka to criticize Venugopal as he did,” Rai told reporters.
“Being in a responsible position, how acceptable is it for Ashoka to pass disrespectful, random comments about another leader who also holds a responsible position? If KC Venugopal is indeed an agent of the party high command, what should we consider BJP leaders to be? Are they brokers?” he asked
Commenting on Ashoka’s allegations of corruption in the Congress government in Karnataka, Rai pointed out, “The KSRTC land was sold to private parties when he (Ashoka) was transport minister. We can find several such cases across the state, which need to be probed.”
The former minister, however, refused to comment on the incident that occurred at Mangaluru airport during CM Siddaramaiah’s visit to the city recently.
Former mayors Ashraf and Shashidhar Hegde, Congress activists Vishwas Kumar Das, Subhodaya Alva, Shabeer, Baby Kundar, Padmanabha, Nazeer Bajal and Prem were present.
