Meghalaya | PK Shullet steps down as president of MeECL Employees' Unions
Amid allegations of his involvement in corruption cases in the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), P.K. Shullet has stepped down as president of the Coordination Committee of Registered MeECL (Employees) Associations and Unions (CCORMAU).
Terming the allegations as "unfounded", Shullet told media persons in Shillong on Thursday that he is stepping down as the union's president on moral grounds.
All the allegations were made to malign my image and damage my reputation, he said.
"I expect others who face similar allegations to do the same (step down)," Shullet said.
He maintained that the allegations against him have nothing to do with the issues raised by the CCORMAU.
They are two different matters and have nothing to do with the issues of corruption in MeECL, he added.
Reacting to allegations of his involvement in awarding most of the projects to his spouse, Shullet defended his stand stating that there is no bar for a spouse to participate in any tender.
There is no conflict of interest if the general procedure of the process of tendering is followed, he justified.
Shullet informed that he has consulted a lawyer in this regard.
On allegation on the splitting of the works, he said that this is a normal process when done within the delegation of power of the Head of the department, particularly for works executed in different districts.
"This practice prevails in other departments as well as in MeECL," he added.
Regarding allotment of multi-crore contracts to M/s I.S. Enterprise, he justified that during the year 2013 to March 31, 2018, the total amount spent on LED demo projects was Rs 54.15 lakh.
The major chunk of this project was allotted to M/s Karma Enterprise for Big Village LED campaign at the cost of Rs 16.88 lakh.
"The remaining balance of Rs 37.26 lakh was split and utilised for nine street lights/luminaires and one for village campaign for Rs 1.2 lakh. The Demo projects were executed by three firms," he said.
Furthermore, he said that he had filed an RTI to seek information on the total amount of works executed by M/s I.S. Enterprise.
He reiterated that all details are contained in the Audit reports submitted by a reputed firm of chartered accountants.
The firm had given certificates for all five years, reflecting that the accounts given are true and fair.
“Now, based on the details that I have presented, the allegation of multi-crore contracts can be term as totally baseless”, he said.
Responding to allegations of nepotism, Shullet said that for appointment of people to various posts in the Inspectorate of Electricity, there is a departmental selection committee that consists of the Senior Electrical Inspector, the Deputy Electrical Inspector, the Deputy Secretary, Power and Finance and Accounts officer as members and the Supervising Assistant as member secretary.
All appointments to the posts in lower grades are done by the departmental selection committee after following due procedures, he said.
He claimed that there was no corruption during his tenure as head of the Meghalaya State Designated Agency on energy conservation as “all works were executed in right earnest and there was no corruption at all”.
(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)
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