SHILLONG, July 15: The Association of Power Engineers (AOPE) of Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) on Friday questioned the state government for pushing the Corporation under a pile of debt by procuring loans worth crores of rupees in the name of strengthening distribution, generation and transmission without actually improving its functioning. It also warned that it would file an FIR if there is any shortage of manpower in future.
AOPE president Arju Dkhar said the association moved a step ahead by deciding that henceforth, policymakers and management should be held accountable.
“We will no longer be silent spectators and a party to any of the discrepancies. Some top officials recently mentioned that Meghalaya is receiving rain every day. But unfortunately, our capacity to generate power during this period of the monsoon is very less,” Dkhar said, adding, “This remark has really hit us and everyone feels bad about it.”
“As the president of the association, I take this blame for not making our management accountable. We have a generation capacity of hydroelectric power of more than 350 MW. But for whatever reason, especially during the rainy season, we could not optimize our generation capacity,” he said.
Slamming the government for continuously taking loans, Dkhar said they will not allow it to take unnecessary loans and that they have decided to start cleaning the mess by themselves as responsible citizens.
He said they were in a better position financially before the then Meghalaya State Electricity Board (MeSEB) became a corporation.
“We are facing the burden of loans of more than Rs 2,000 crore after the board was corporatised on April 1, 2010,” the AOPE president said.
He said they are facing this stage as they have not been allowed to function independently as per the Electricity Act, 2003.
Dkhar pointed out that the government failed to release the terminal benefits of retired employees of the MeECL. He said they might approach the court for remedy.
He also referred to the huge shortage of manpower in the MeECL, forcing the employees to work under extreme conditions, and warned that the engineers’ body might even file an FIR if there is any shortage of manpower in future. “The management needs to provide us with minimum manpower to be able to carry out duties,” Dkhar said.
AOPE also demanded an independent inquiry into nonfunctioning of power stations and units for years.
“We would like to know the root cause of these power stations and units remaining non-functional. The state government should fix responsibility and take against people responsible for lapses,” Dkhar said.
Pointing out that they are able to generate only about 30%-40% of power at present, he said there is a need for an inquiry to find out the reasons behind the MeECL’s inability to maximise generation.
Dkhar said they will survive as long as the MeECL is able to sustain. He said their families will be dragged to the streets if the MeECL stops functioning.
“We want to take extreme steps before such things happen. If any of our members or top officials of the MeECL is found to be accumulating wealth individually at the cost of the organisation, then strict action should be taken,” Dkhar said.
He apologised to the consumers for the “unsatisfactory service”.
“…I would like to inform you that it is not just unions and associations of employees that have failed to deliver a desired result to our consumers. The management is also responsible for this,” he further said.
Dkhar also made it clear that the state government cannot back out as the guarantor of Atmanirbhar loan simply because of a letter from the Ministry.
“The government cannot shy away from its responsibility. It is the duty of the state government to back the MeECL,” he added.
