Upping his ante against the scams in Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), senior Congress MLA Zenith Sangma said that the allegations of corruption were not only against the previous MeECL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) but also against Power Minister James Sangma.
He was reacting to the decision of the State government to set up an enquiry commission headed by a former judge to investigate the scams in MeECL.
“We should remember that the allegations of corruption were not only against the previous CMD but equally against the Power Minister as well. The minister is the head having the supreme executive power in the Power Department. Therefore, it is obvious that anybody in that position can destroy or manipulate the evidence or tamper the submission of the relevant documents before the inquiry commission,” Zenith said.
“Therefore, once again I reiterate that in the fitness of things, the Power Minister should be removed to allow free and fair inquiry into the alleged corruption in the greater interest of the State,” he added.
Stating that he was not against the Self Identified Project in the Power Department, Zenith said the way EOI (Expression of Interest) was floated for the project was not correct.
“Yes, we want developers to come and invest. But the EOI should have been at proper time not during the time when the State is having complete and partial lockdown because of Covid pandemic. There is every chance that this can also be another scam. Therefore, I just cautioned the government as it creates suspicions that there can be malafide intention,” he added.
The Congress MLA also alleged that the interest of the locals including local contractors and officers has been always ignored by the present Power Minister.
“What is the logic in awarding all the contract works to the outside companies/firms on turnkey basis at very exorbitant rates, who in turn re-allotted the same works to the local contractors (as sub-contract) at the lower rates,” Zenith asked.
He also questioned the logic behind appointment of Rupesh Kumar as the adviser to the Power Minister and Manish Gupta as the adviser to the CMD of MeECL on a pro-bono basis.
“These advisers are without any salary or remuneration and even TA/DA is not applicable, whereas their duties and functions are enormous,” Zenith said.
Stating that there are no proper engagements to increase the revenue of the MeECL, Zenith said that presently the monthly revenue collection is around Rs 80 to Rs 85 crores whereas the monthly expenditure is around Rs 110 crores.
“The MeECL has been put into a debt trap,” he said.
“The previous CMD claimed that in the month of June 2021, the generation capacity increased from 60 MW upto 150 MW (approximately) out of 356 MW of installed capacity. Therefore, I believe the revenue must also have increased. So, what is the revenue collection in the month of June 2021? I want the reply from the Power Minister on all these above queries,” Zenith said.
