The struggling Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) will benefit immensely once a suitable technocrat is found to be its Managing Director, the state government is hoping.
The loss-making power utility was the subject of a cabinet decision in June that shuffled its board structure.
As part of the reforms, the non-executive Chairman will now be the Power Minister ex-officio and the MD will be an official of the IAS cadre/lateral entry or technocrat who will be selected by a transparent process. The MD will also be the MD of the three subsidiaries – Meghalaya Energy Power Generation Corporation Ltd, Meghalaya Energy Power Distribution Corporation Ltd and Meghalaya Energy Power Transmission Corporation Ltd.
The government is keen to appoint a technocrat for the post of MD and the process is on and should be complete in a “few more months”, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who also holds the power portfolio, said today.
In a recent ranking of distribution companies (discoms), the MePDCL ranked at the bottom with a D grade.
Tynsong excused this poor showing, saying that almost all North East states are ranked poorly in terms of distribution.
“We are trying our best to improve. All these years we never realised one issue, namely the need to bring in a professional to head the corporation. Now we have realised it and, therefore, the government has taken a tough decision to bring in a technocrat to run the corporation,” the minister said. “We want reform as and it is going to take place soon.”
