Despite strong criticism by employees of Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), the Power Department has gone ahead with appointment of a junior engineer as Director (Distribution), Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited.
M K Chettri, Chief Engineer (WZ) was appointed as the Director (Distribution), Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited by the State government as per order issued on April 22.
It may be mentioned that there are five Chief Engineers in the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) belonging to both Electrical and Civil Engineering wings who are far senior to Chettri in terms of service.
They are B Khonglah, Rocket Syiem, T R Pdah, Herman Massar and M Marbaniang. With this promotion, Chettri has superseded all of them despite being junior to them.
Earlier, the name of three of them has been recommended by MeECL Corporate Affairs to the Power Department for the post of Director (Distribution), Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited.
The post of Director (Distribution) in Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited had remained vacant for almost a year and the employees have even written to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma urging his intervention to fill up the post at the earliest.
However, according to sources, the State government delayed the matter as Power Minister James Sangma wanted to appoint Chettri in the post.
Sources said that for the last many months after the retirement of the previous Director (Distribution) in Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited, four senior Chief Engineers with good credibility and track record have been ignored by the government and have not been appointed even though the name of three senior most Chief Engineers has been recommended by MeECL Corporate Affairs to the Power Department for the post of Director (Distribution) in Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited.
It was learnt that the power minister is favouring Chettri who has just been promoted to the post as recent as March last year by superseding his seniors.
Speaking to this newspaper, several MeECL employees said by depriving local senior engineers for the post of Director, Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited, the government has shown its bias towards them.
“It seems the power minister wants to appoint a person who is willing to toe his line,” the employees said.
They also alleged that the power minister was instrumental in the transfer of the then serving Director (Distribution) as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Government of Meghalaya, since this Director was not in line with the minister on matters related to implementation of the Saubhaagya Scheme.
With many controversies and alleged scams in MePDCL, many employees felt that appointment of a new Director should be based on merit and seniority and not the one who is a blue-eyed boy of those at the helms of affairs.
