SHILLONG:

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday ordered to constitute an independent enquiry into the different charges of corruption in the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL).

Sangma informed that the independent enquiry will be headed by a retired judge and two other members, one from the administration (a retired officer) and another from a technical background.

Giving details about the core areas that the enquiry will look into, the CM said, "The terms of reference will include different kinds of tenders that have taken place in MeECL from central as well as state schemes."

The enquiry will also look into different kind of manpower issues like appointments and other irregularities from the human resource angle, he informed.

Furthermore, the committee will also look into the allegations of power theft, including the overall Aggregate Terminal and Commercial (AT & C) losses in the MeECL.

The committee will seek details of AT & C losses for the last 10 years, which is since the inception of MeECL (when it was rebundled and renamed).

Sangma said that a specific timeframe of four to six months will be given to the committee to complete the enquiry.

"The exact terms will be worked out by the political department. I have simply given the order that an enquiry should be constituted at the earliest and this independent enquiry should be headed by a retired judge with two members in the panel," he said.

Sangma further added that the process has started and "hopefully, within the next few days, this committee will be formed."

Earlier, United Democratic Party (UDP) President and Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh had written a letter to the Chief Minister urging him to conduct an independent enquiry into the various allegations related to the functioning of MeECL.

(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)

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