SHILLONG, June 4: UDP general secretary and former chairman of a fact-finding team on power (2013-2018), Jemino Mawthoh on Sunday said the MDA 2.0 Government should not be blamed for the current power crisis in the state as successive governments in the state have been able to address the core problem of the expenditure-revenue gap in the MeECL.
He recalled that in 2014 when he was an MLA, he had led a demonstration due to a power crisis in the state and a fact-finding team was constituted with him as the chairman and NPP leader James PK Sangma as the secretary.
“This team visited all the power generation sites – Leshka Umtrew, Umiam Stages 1,2, and 3, and also inspected the Umiam dam,” he said.
“After that, I started compiling the report on what actually ails the power sector in Meghalaya and submitted it to the chief minister and the power minister. I still have the report with me. I will condense it further and give it to the government again,” Mawthoh said.
One of the suggestions in the report was on bridging the gap between MeECL’s expenditure and revenue earned.
“If Meghalaya spends Rs 5 on each unit of power produced or supplied but earns Rs 3, who will fill up the deficit of Rs 2? No leadership has been able to address the resultant gap,” the UDP leader said.
“If we increase the tariff, people will revolt saying they are getting adequate electricity,” he said.
There are other issues such as power theft, revenue realisation, and generation, he added.
Recalling that they had suggested 12-14 points in the report, Mawthoh said, “I will meet the power minister soon and give those suggestions because we need to come together for managing this important sector and generating revenue for the state.”
He lamented Meghalaya’s slide from a power-surplus state. “Inability to meet the annual revenue requirement added to the liabilities every year. Today, the main problem is playing huge sums to the power distribution companies,” he said.
The leadership in a state in poor financial health needs to sit together, think positively, logically, and rationally to overcome the power crisis, Mawthoh said.
“We have the potential to do much better but somehow, we have failed. It is not easy but we have to make the effort to set things right,” he observed.
