SHILLONG, April 8: Alleged corrupt practices by MeECL union leader Pradip Kumar Chullet have given a new twist to the drama over the financial irregularities in the corporation.
Chullet is the president of the Coordination Committee of Registered MeECL (Employee) Associations and Unions (CCORMAU) as well as the MeECL Engineers’ Association. He is also the chairman of the MeECL Joint Action Committee.
Sources said Chullet, who served as senior electrical inspector from 2011-2018, had awarded multi-crore contracts to one I.S. Enterprise, a firm run by his wife Aynla Imsu. The revelation came two days after he had addressed media persons seeking action against corrupt engineers for damaging MeECL’s financial health and advocating agitation by the CCORMAU members if the government did not listen to their demands.
Chullet had allegedly awarded tenders without assessing the technical experience of I.S. Enterprise and had deliberately removed mandatory requirements of expertise for quotations and proposals to accommodate the firm.
The CCORMAU president split large quotations into 106 small quotations below Rs 50,000 to avoid floating of tenders in the public domain so that they could be directly awarded to the firm, the sources said. Payment to the firm was also cleared without taking any bank guarantee from it.
I.S. Enterprise was learnt to have been given contracts for street lights, office wooden boards, simple poster boards, office files, making of two-minute promotional videos for more than triple the market rates.
The sources said Chullet accepted quotations for 8-watt LED lamps at Rs. 850 per unit, Rs. 600 more than the market price. For a basic two-minute promotional video, the firm was paid Rs. 50,000 without any assessment of its technical capabilities.
Sources also said that in 2018, a complaint was filed against Chullet for nepotism, conflict of interest and abuse of power with a copy marked to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Following a complaint, he had allegedly erased all emails and deactivated the email account of the inspectorate.
Nepotism, favouritism and conflict of interest in awarding tenders/contracts by a serving government officer is an offence under Section 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, punishable with imprisonment for up to 10 years.
It was also claimed that to escape further scrutiny, he moved out from the inspectorate and got himself posted as Executive Engineer (Rural Electrification) in MeECL’s Nongstoin office.
In his current capacity as EE, he allegedly awarded a tender for electrification works to his brother Nidamon Chullet in Nongstoin under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
I.S Enterprises is reportedly linked to his sister Ranjita Chullet and the same firm is also registered in MeECL as one of the suppliers in the name of I.S. Electricals.
Sources said a detailed investigation will bring out the nexus between engineers and suppliers or contractors.
When contacted, P.K. Chullet said the contract in question was awarded to the lowest bidder through a tender floated online. He claimed everything was done according to the norms at that time.