Trinamool Congress national spokesman Saket S. Gokhale continued to rake up the issue of irregularities in the Meghalayan Age Limited, a government company established in 2020.
Gokhale has filed a vigilance complaint with State Vigilance Commissioner, Donald P. Wahlang demanding urgent inquiry into the affairs in Meghalayan Age Ltd.
According to the complaint, Meghalayan Age Ltd after its inception in 2020, has received a loan of USD 79.05 million (Rs 632 crore) from the New Development Bank (NDB) for various projects and has floated several tenders for projects from its inception till date worth crores of rupees.
“However, it is most surprising and shocking that Meghalayan Age Ltd has not made a single financial filing with the Registrar of Companies between 2020 till date which includes its annual reports and cash flow statements. These are mandatory financials that every company is required to file under The Companies Act, 2013. Moreover, public limited companies like Meghalayan Age Ltd are also required to get the financial reports approved by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India,” Gokhale said in the complaint.
“Also, owing to default in filing of mandatory financial reports, it is unclear whether and when Meghalayan Age Ltd has conducted its Annual General Meetings (AGM) of the Board of Directors. It is, therefore, impossible for the public to determine whether projects approved by Meghalayan Age Ltd have the approval of the Board of Directors,” the complaint said.
Gokhale also mentioned that tenders for projects for the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project are floated and executed by Meghalayan Age Ltd and that the New Development Bank (NDB) has loaned USD 79.05 million (Rs 632 crores) to Meghalayan Age Ltd for the project.
“The tenders floated, awarded, and executed by Meghalayan Age Ltd, are not available on the Meghalaya e-tenders website. Also, the bids received for projects, the evaluation process of bidders, and the details of the final award of tender are, therefore, unavailable to the public. These details would have been available had Meghalayan Age Ltd filed its financial reports on time with the Registrar of Companies, Shillong. However, that hasn’t been done either,” Gokhale said
Stating that there is zero transparency in how Meghalayan Age Ltd is using public funds, evaluating tenders, and awarding projects worth crores of rupees, Gokhale said that as a public limited enterprise, the funds of the company are a part of public exchequer.
“However, the general public has been denied and stonewalled from any possibility of knowing how Meghalayan Age Ltd is conducting and deploying its finance and awarding contracts. This is an issue of serious vigilance ramifications and a matter of severe default by Meghalayan Age Ltd under its Chairman and Managing Director Dr. D Vijay Kumar IAS. Lack of transparency in the use and disbursal of crores of rupees of public funds is a matter of great irregularity,” Gokhale added.
He also urged the State Vigilance Commissioner to initiate an urgent enquiry to determine the reason for these severe irregularities in Meghalayan Age Ltd and also to find out whether there has been any alleged corruption.
“This is a matter that pertains to crores worth of public money that has been borrowed from an international financial institution. Therefore, irregularities and non-transparency in the financials of a company that operates on a debt taken on by the people of Meghalaya is something that needs urgent investigation,” Gokhale said.
