SHILLONG, Aug 27: A committee, assigned to probe the alleged corruption and irregularities in the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), has met just once in Delhi since it was instituted exactly two months ago.
The state government had given the panel three months’ time to submit the report but the probe is yet to begin. The committee was formed in light of the findings of an audit of the Saubhagya Scheme.
A fair amount of time was wasted ahead of its formation. First, the government took more than a month to announce the name of Justice (retd) Ifaqat Ali Khan of Allahabad High Court as the head of the panel. Then, the government had to reconstitute it as he opted out after meeting with an accident.
Subsequently, the government appointed Justice (retd) RN Mishra of the same court to head the probe. The other members of the panel are retired IAS officer Manoj Kumar (administrative member) and retired Executive Director of REC Ltd Sunil Kumar (technical member).
The members of the committee are waiting for the government to first fix their remuneration. The matter, pending with Power department, is likely to be cleared in a day or two.
Also, as sought by them, the government has agreed to set up two offices – one each at Meghalaya House of New Delhi and MeECL guesthouse in Shillong.
According to a notification issued by the Chief Secretary on July 29, the committee will inquire records and make recommendations concerning the functioning of MeECL and its three subsidiary companies – Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation Ltd, Meghalaya Power Transmission Corporation Ltd and Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Ltd.
The probe will cover the period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2021.
The committee will critically examine procurement rules and procedures of MeECL and its subsidiaries and benchmark the same against procurement rules and procedures of Government of Meghalaya and some of the better-run energy corporations in other states of the Northeast.
Further, it will examine at length the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses, covering aspects of faulty metering, under billing, poor billing efficiency, poor collection efficiency, billing and collection from industries, pilferage of power and lack of accountability as well as the steps taken by MeECL management to address the problem of high AT&C losses and whether these have had the desired results. The panel will also look into the recruitment procedures of MeECL and its subsidiaries, their adequacy, examine some of the bulk hiring, recruitment made and the issue of surplus/deficit manpower across departments in the corporation.
The inquiry will also cover training of personnel and accountability of key personnel. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.
