After recent suspension of H Jyrwa, the Superintending Engineer of Energy Management (EM) of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and the flimsy reason given by the management, speculations have been rife as to the real reasons for this drastic action by the Meghalaya government.
It may be mentioned that Jyrwa was suspended from service on February 17 for allegedly “failing to perform his duty diligently”. The suspension order was strongly opposed by all employees of MeECL who have also demanded reinstatement of his service.
One strand of these theories is whether the suspension of the engineer has anything to do with Arunachal Pradesh as things seem to hover around the issue?
Arunachal Pradesh gets mentioned in this intriguing tale as one of the MeECL’s trading partners was the Arunachal Pradesh Power Corporation Private Limited (APPCPL).
Arunachal Pradesh comes up in this story during off the cuff discussions with insiders who pointed out that the MeECL management had appointed an advisor for the chairman-cum-managing-director of Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation (MePDCL) on February 3 on a pro bono basis.
It is alleged that the new advisor had been working for the Arunachal Pradesh Power Corporation Private Limited (APPCPL). A senior engineer wondered if this advisor “is a mole buried here to pass on information about the MeCL?”
He said people like him cannot be blamed for seeing ghosts everywhere in the management of the MeECL as the decisions taken by their authorities and the ministers have been particularly detrimental to the future of the State’s power company during the last few years.
The engineers even see a link between the visit of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to Arunachal Pradesh during the second week of February and the subsequent suspension of Jyrwa.
“We know that millions of rupees can be made in the hurly burly of the transactions of energy or else private companies would not be in the business of energy trading” they said. They were careful to point out that Jyrwa was fronting the MeECL’s energy management office, which had no standard protocols laid down.
So the question is whether Jyrwa was suspended because he inadvertently stepped on some powerful toes?
Nothing can be said unless there is a thorough investigation, they said.
Till date there is no clarity as to the whys and wherefores of his suspension except some vague suspicion that it is linked to power purchase and sales, swaps and barters of energy over the national grid.
The dramatic fact of his suspension is that he was suspended for what the management called “a procedural lapse” when the MeECL’s energy management office has no laid down standard procedure.
Insiders said that Jyrwa’s job was only to ensure that Meghalaya is in possession of enough power so that there is no need to resort to load shedding and at the same time ensure that no unnecessary losses are made to the MeECL. He was in fact praised by the chairman-managing director of MeECL for ensuring that the harsh winter months sailed off without a load shedding. His suspension therefore was a bolt out of the blue.
So what is worrying the MeECL employees is the reason for his suspension on these alleged trumped up charges by the management.
What makes it even more intriguing about Jyrwa’s case is that his colleagues vouch for his impeccable character and career, a rare certificate from fellow-engineers.
The Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited Engineers Association (MEA) had recently issued a statement demanding his reinstatement failing which they would agitate till the management revoked his unjustified suspension.
On March 1, the MEA had given the MeECL management seven days to reverse Jyrwa’s suspension.
However, till date the management is yet to even clarify as to the reasons for his suspension from service.
