The problems plaguing the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) are so entrenched that they cannot be solved overnight, Power Minister James Sangma said today.
The MeECL has lurched from one crisis to the next over the years and is now facing pressure both from the opposition Congress and restless staff who worry for their salaries and the fate of their employer.
Sangma said that the government is working “tirelessly” towards finding a solution. One of the biggest problems, the minister said, is that the state-owned utility is facing high Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses. These have to do with losses due to technical reasons, theft, inefficiency in billing, defaulting customers and inefficiency in collection.
The Power Department is attempting to reduce these AT&C losses by improving the distribution network, installing new substations and transformers, besides taking other measures.
“So all these will help in reduction of AT&C losses, which will, in other ways, improve the efficiency and also improve revenue generation of MeECL, and thereby things like problems of payment of salaries. We expect and hope that these problems will be resolved,” Sangma said.
However, the minister dismissed accusations levelled by the Congress Party, stating that it is “trying to policitise issues just for the sake of having issues.”
