SHILLONG, Sep 24: The Opposition Congress has been demanding a CBI probe into the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited’s (MeECL) Saubhagya scheme where an interim report of the Accountant General had pointed to excess payment of Rs 150 crore to Satnam Global Infraprojects Ltd the company that executed the Saubhagya project for 100% electrification of villages in Meghalaya.
The Congress alleges that the Inquiry Commission is an eyewash designed to mislead.
It must be mentioned that other than the Congress all other political parties have now chosen to remain mute on the Saubhagya case.
So far the ‘independent’ Inquiry Committee set up to probe into the alleged corruption into the now infamous Saubhagya scam has not received any evidence and views from the public physically about the ongoing inquiry.
Sources informed that the Commission had on September 9 issued a public notice asking people to give evidence and other leads into the alleged corruption in the department but so far, no one has physically turned up before the Committee to share any inputs or evidence. The source however could not confirm if any person/persons has submitted their views on the inquiry online directly to the convener.
It was informed that the public notice was issued on September 9 and the public has been given one month’s time to come forward and submit their evidence or documents before the Committee.
The Committee has of now sat only once in Meghalaya House, New Delhi. The Commission has also been provided an office in Shillong to hold its sittings.
Sources say they have no knowledge as to when the next sitting of the Commission will take place. They however added that the sitting will only take place after October 8 which is the last date for the public to share information on the case.
Officials of the Inquiry Committee were also
contacted by the reporter for their views on the matter but they added that necessary queries should be mailed to the Commission.
The Inquiry Commission is headed by Justice (retired) RN Mishra of the Allahabad High Court. Other members of the panel are Retired IAS officer Manoj Kumar who is the administrative member while retired Executive Director of REC Ltd, Sunil Kumar is the technical member of the Committee.
As per the notification issued by the Chief Secretary on July 29, the Committee will look into records and make recommendations concerning the functioning of MeECL and its three subsidiary companies – Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation Ltd (MePGCL), Meghalaya Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (MePTCL) and Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (MePDCL).
The probe will cover the period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2021.
The Committee is mandated to 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 North East. 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 committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.