An umbrella body of employees unions in Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) has urged the State government to scrap the decision to hand over of Shillong Central Distribution Circle and Eastern Distribution Circle to a distribution franchisee.
Shillong Central Distribution Circle covers the entire Shillong areas and adjoining areas under East Khasi Hills District. Eastern Distribution Circle covers the entire Jowai both urban and rural areas.
Under the approved proposal, 25 percent of the total area of operation of MePDCL would be handed over to RECPDCL. The company will provide electricity to every household in the two Distribution Circles including billing and revenue collection, all operation and maintenance, consumer support and care.
In a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today, the Coordination Committee of Registered MeECL (Employees) Associations and Unions (CCORMAU) said such a move to hand over the two distribution circles to RECPDCL will only serve to weaken the MeECL further.
“The two distribution circles proposed for handing over to the distribution franchisee are actually having some of the lowest Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses. Power interruptions are also the least. Billing efficiency of these two circles is more than 95 per cent,” CCORMAU said.
Further, CCORMAU said that these two circles are very high revenue generating circles of MePDCL with the largest number of employees and the decision to hand them over to the distribution franchisee has put the future of the employees at stake and caused much anxiety and unrest among them.
CCORMAU also urged upon the Chief Minister to scrap the invitation of bids for operation and maintenance of Leshka and New Umtru power stations.
According to it, such a drastic step is as an attempt towards selling off the assets of the MeECL to the highest bidder, “wilfully ignoring the negative implications that such policy will have on the future of the skilled and unskilled, educated youth and qualified engineers who will be deprived of full-time jobs in MeECL”.
“The two power stations of Leshka and New Umtru are newly commissioned and have very few operation and maintenance problems. These are very vital power stations having the highest efficiency of power generation. Since the inception of these power stations, the employees of the MeECL have run the stations with optimum efficiency, generating millions of units, worth crores of rupees, under the supervision of their own employees. These can be better maintained by the own employees of MeECL,” CCORMAU said.
It also thanked the Chief Minister for keeping in abeyance the handing over of the 56 33/11kV substations to BECIL, a company from Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Stating that maintenance cost will be much less if the 56 sub-stations are operated and run by the MeECL itself, CCORMAU also demanded immediate scrapping of the decision to hand over the sub-stations to any company.
CCORMAU also expressed concern on the move by MeECL management to discontinue payment of pension, gratuity and other terminal benefits to retired employees.
“These pensioners have given their whole lives in the service of the erstwhile Board, the Corporation and the State at the same time. It is patently unfair to deny them their means of sustenance, especially during a sensitive time such as this when the pandemic has put the retirees in a very vulnerable position,” it said.
CCORMAU also demanded a permanent settlement on the question of terminal benefits to the employees as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the State government, MeECL and its employees in 2010. It also demanded that payments to retirees pending since the last three years should be released immediately.
Urging the Chief Minister to address the demands within June 15, CCORMAU threatened to “take extreme measures” if the government failed to protect the livelihood of employees and future of their families.
