Meghalaya: MeECL being used as a milch cow, says Mukul Sangma

 | 

SHILLONG

The Opposition Congress, on Friday, said that the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) is being used as a milch cow by the authorities and political leadership at the helms of affairs.

“There are huge instances where the people in power have used the MeECL as a milch cow to serve their vested interests. Using the MeECL as a milch cow will ultimately cripple the MeECL and the state economy,” Opposition leader Dr Mukul Sangma said.

“The party (Congress) is raising these issues intending to send a powerful message and wake up call to everyone on the illegalities which are taking place in the state,” Sangma said.

Talking about the Saubhagya scheme, Sangma said the government had "manipulated" the tendering process to ensure that a predetermined bidder is qualified.

According to him, procurement of the materials makes up over 70 per cent of the project cost under the Saubhagya scheme, which is under implementation.

Referring to the procurement and supply of galvanised steel pole of 9.5 meters and 8 meters, Sangma informed that the approved Schedule of Rates (SOR) for 9.5 meters is Rs. 16,900 adding that the SOR is based on the market survey by any organisation whether PHE, PWD or MeECL.

Sangma said that the bidder who was selected to implement the project in the eastern region quoted Rs. 24,126 for the 9.5 meters galvanised steel pole while the bidder who would implement the project in the western part quoted Rs. 28,830 - over 70.59 per cent from the approved SOR.

Informing that the approved rate for the 8.5 meters galvanised steel pole is Rs. 12,795, Sangma stated that the bidder implementing the project in the eastern part quoted Rs. 20,808, 62.63 per cent above the SOR while in the western part, the bidder quoted Rs. 19,182 which is 49.92 per cent more.

On the procurement of the ACSR weasel conductor, Sangma said that the approved rate is Rs. 19,429, and the quoted rate which was accepted was Rs. 43,879 in the eastern region and Rs 51,149 in the western region.

“The difference in Garo hills region is 163.26 per cent,” Sangma said.

He further pointed out that if there was a competition and if the bidding document had not tampered, then many would have qualified.

“If there would have been a competition, the price would have gone below, and the state would have saved around Rs. 100 crore. This is how MeECL has been crippled,” he said.

(Edited by Andre Kongri)