Shillong, July 28: Three weeks after state government decided to go for a probe into alleged misappropriation in MeECL, it has hardly made any headway.
The probe decision which came in the wake of a damning audit report on Saubhagya Scheme, was to be completed within 90 days by a committee headed by a retired High Court Judge.
Chief Secretary MS Rao, told this reporter on Wednesday that the notified Chairperson, Justice Ifaqat Ali Khan of Allahabad High Court has withdrawn his consent to head the probe panel as he had met with an accident.
“We are in the process of getting consent for a new Chairperson. A fresh Committee is likely to be notified this week,” Rao said.
Other members of the committee include retired bureaucrat Manoj Kumar (administrative member) and retired Executive Director of REC Limited, Sunil Kumar (technical member).
The Committee was notified on July 6 last and was given a time frame of three months to complete the investigation.
The probe has been necessitated following a clamour first by the engineers of the MeECL and later by the allies of the MDA Government that the work for the Scheme undertaken by a contractor from Gurgaon should be probed as there were several irregularities including ‘needless’ expenditure of Rs 149.21 crore over and above the quoted price.
