In order to conduct a free and fair inquiry, those at the helm of affairs at the scam-tainted Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) should be removed, the United Democratic Party (UDP) has told Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
UDP President and Speaker of the Assembly, Metbah Lyngdoh, wrote to the CM today urging an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities in MeECL.
“Without putting the blame on anyone at this juncture, those at the helm of affairs should be removed forthwith for a free and fair inquiry,” Lyngdoh said.
In March the UDP demanded the removal of Power Minister James Sangma and the MeECL Chairman and Managing Director Arunkumar Kembhavi given the mess in the department. However, it appeared that the UDP was not completely on board with this decision, with ministers in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government declining to openly call for their colleague’s sacking. The UDP is part of the MDA, which is led by the Sangma brothers’ National People’s Party.
On the central government’s Saubhagya scheme to electrify all households, the UDP said that there are flaws from the beginning of the tendering process to the implementation stage, which has resulted in losses of more than Rs 100 crores.
On the issue of smart meters the party said that it was informed on the floor of the Assembly that the cost of each smart meter is Rs 3,400. “However, it is learnt that the derived costing per meter is Rs 9444.44, which is contradictory. It is also learnt that the sitting of the MeECL’s Board of Directors to decide matters worth hundreds of crores in just 15 minutes is also questionable,” Lyngdoh said.
The UDP also said that under the Enterprise Resource Planning scheme there were allegations that several items were purchased at exorbitant rates, an example being the rate of a normal computer (which was outdated) with chair, table and backup power at more than Rs 3 lakh each. Hundreds of such packages were ordered, costing crores of rupees.
Lyngdoh also said that the appointment of one Manish Gupta as an advisor to the CMD, albeit on a pro bono basis, was a case of conflict of interest as he is also an assistant manager at the Arunachal Pradesh Power Corporation Private Ltd, a trading firm from which MeECL purchases power.
The UDP president also said that the appointment of other advisors like Arkajyoti Bhattacharjee as Assistant (Techno-commercial) and Sunny Kumar Singh as Assistant (Finance-Commercial) without following due process is in violation of the state’s interest.
He also said that the proposed outsourcing of the 33/11 KV substation to outsiders will surely attract stiff opposition from different angles.
“This has to be properly examined before implementation,” Lyngdoh said.
Meanwhile on the issue of a special tariff to the Byrnihat Industries Association at Rs. 4.90 per unit which is lower than the public tariff, the UDP president said that this is not healthy and resulted in huge financial losses to the corporation.
