Sukhoi man Deshmukh is HALs Interim Chief

 BANGALORE: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has finally woken up and decided to put Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which has been in the news for a spate of morale-dampening incidents of late, on a corrective flight path.As the first step, the  Ministry of Defence has appointed HAL’s senior-most director (MiG Complex) PV Deshmukh as its acting chairman. The move scuttles the extension dreams of current HAL head A Nayak, who had been lobbying with the MoD officials in New Delhi.Sources told The New Indian Express that the  Ministry of Defence letter appointing Deshmukh as the interim chief was issued on October 14, just three days after HAL’s marketing head Sqn Ldr (Retd) Baldev Singh committed suicide.Deshmukh, currently looking after the Sukhoi (Su-30 MKI) production and upgradation projects at HAL’s Nashik Division, will hold the post for three months from November 1 to January 31.Pawan Hans chief R K Tyagi has already been nominated by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) eligible to become HAL’s 16th chairman.The interim arrangements are made as Tyagi has to get a complete ‘go-ahead’ from the MoD, Intelligence Bureau, Central Vigilance Commission and Cabinet Committee on Appointments. “The verification process takes at least three months,” PESB sources said.Though the HAL has an overflowing order book, the morale of the employees took a beating with the top management falling apart in the last one year. The power struggle reached a crescendo in the recent months with none from HAL found eligible to apply for the top job. The sudden death of Baldev Singh further eroded HAL’s image."The junior-level employees are the worst-hit. Many have quit the company in the last one year. The company today needs inspiring leaders who don’t have any regional bias,” says a director, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It is not the big-ticket new programmes that we are worried about, but ongoing projects like weaponisation of Dhruv helicopter, Sukhoi phase IV and V production, initial operational clearance for Intermediate Jet Trainer Sitara and Tejas series production. Unfortunately, many of these projects are running way behind schedule and nobody seems to be bothering much,” the official said.In a late night development,  the Ministry of Defence sources said that Tyagi might take over as HAL chairman on November 1 itself as his papers are moving at a lightning speed.