The Coordination Committee of Registered MeECL (Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd) Associations and Unions (CCORMAU) has lobbied Chief Minister Conrad Sangma against the central government’s Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021, as it fears it will ruin the power utilities in the country.
The issue that is at the heart of the electricity workers’ concerns is the privatisation aspect of the bill.
“The statement of purpose of this bill is misleading with the perceived intent to gain cheap popularity to win favour for the bill and, moreover, it will have far reaching consequences as major structural changes have been proposed,” a memorandum to the CM said. “This bill is trumpeted to bring power sector reforms whereas it is seen that the document will only facilitate the death knell of the power distribution companies and provide a red carpet to the private players to make open loot by making use of multi-billion rupees worth of infrastructure of electricity distribution with little or no investment.”
The 11-page memo went into great detail about the MeECL employees’ concerns and ended by asking the CM to write a strong letter to the Centre opposing the amendments in the “best interest” of the nation and to raise his voice enough so that the bill is withdrawn.