The Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) will continue with its current schedule of load shedding, Power Minister James Sangma said today.
The state is currently facing load shedding because of a shutdown to a power plant in Tripura that supplies Meghalaya with some of its electricity. Industrial units are undergoing 12 hours of cuts daily, while ordinary citizens are facing three hours.
“We are looking at how we can find ways and means of addressing the shortage by maybe buying additional power from the open market. We are trying to make sure that enough power is given to domestic consumers because we are mindful of the fact that the students are appearing for their examinations,” Sangma said.
The MeECL is in dire financial straits and was only able to pay off some of its outstanding dues after securing the first tranche of a loan from the Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation. When the second half will be released is dependent on these bodies.
“Many factors are there which are not within our power and which will be dependent on how fast the second tranche is processed,” the minister added.
Sangma also said that the department is trying its level best to ensure that students are not affected due to the load shedding because these are examination times and students are appearing for online examinations.
Meanwhile, on allegations made by the opposition that the government appointed junior officers to the post of Chairman and Managing Director of the MeECL, Sangma said that it is a convention that is being followed for many years, but the guidelines do not state that the officer has to be a senior official or senior IAS officer.
“I believe that we have to look for an officer who can devote a lot of time to the MeECL since it is in such a precarious condition,” Sangma added.
This government is more inclined to appoint people on merit rather than on seniority, he stated.
Meanwhile, on the CMD recommending an independent inquiry into the power theft in Byrnihat industries, Sangma said that since many things are coming to light recently the government is seriously considering constituting an inquiry, be it departmental or judicial.
He said that skeletons are coming out of the closet and that there were plenty of cases of power theft, resulting in loss of revenue to the MeECL to the tune of Rs 100 crore in a year.
“That is a phenomenal figure. If it had been avoided then we could have paid salaries, we could have made sure that the dues of the generating companies and transmission companies could have been paid on time,” he said.
