Panel raps Mukul Sangma government on knuckles

Committee on Public Undertakings says its recommendations to Meghalaya government not complied with

From A Correspondent

Shillong, Sept 20: The Committee on Public Undertakings said on Wednesday that the Meghalaya government has failed to take steps on its recommendations. The Committee had already submitted its report in the Assembly.

It may be mentioned that the Committee in its report had recommended the government to put in place an institutiol agreement with an action plan and timeline to direct the defaulting public sector undertakings (PSUs) to clear the arrears and filise their accounts at the earliest. It has also observed that the defaulting PSUs are detrimental to the fincial interest of the government even as it also endorsed a recommendation made by the CAG wherein fresh grants should be made only when accounts are filized.

“We have given the report in the last session. The Administrative Department has the responsibility to oversee the activities of these entities and to ensure the accounts are filised and adopted by the State owned undertakings within a stipulated period as part of the regular monitoring of the progress made in this regard. We have submitted the report in the last session. The Administrative Department has not yet acted to the recommendations made by the committee,” United Democratic Party (UDP) MLA from Sohra, Titosstarwel Chyne and member of the Committee on Public Undertaking said.

Chyne also stated that even though Chief Secretary Y Tsering was asked to appear before the Committee on Wednesday, he skipped the meeting without informing the members.

According to Chyne, as per the CAG report, there is an overall loss of Rs 389.50 crore. “The Committee is deeply concerned that the losses have been incurred by the various PSUs and this is a huge burden for the State,” Chyne said.

The committee on Wednesday summoned all senior officials of the PSUs to give detailed explations as to why they have not been able to perform as expected.

Chyne said there are a total of 17 PSUs and out of which 15 are currently functioning, while the remaining two have stopped functioning.

The meeting was also attended by the Principal Account General of Audit. The heads of the PSUs were asked to explain about their way of functioning and also the status of their accounts.

Chyne said after detailed assessment on the performance of these various units, the Assembly Committee found that all the PSUs in the State are running at a loss, adding that only few units indicated that they are having some kind of net profit, which includes MTDC, Forest Development Corporation of Meghalaya and Meghalaya Government Construction Corporation Ltd (MGCC).

Even though these three units have showed they have some kind of net profit, the Committee member said that these three units have not submitted their arrear of accounts for the past five years.

“Majority of the PSUs have submitted their detailed accounts up to 2011. Most of the units have not submitted their accounts to the AG for the last four to five years,” Chyne said.

According to Chyne, most of the PSUs like the Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) have mentioned about the problem of being overstaffed for not being able to earn profits. The MTC has around 383 staff with only 64 buses, out of which many buses are not in running condition.

The Committee on Public Undertaking member also pointed that the Meghalaya Cement Company Limited (MCCL) ran into huge loss from 2006 till 2008. He said a new plant has been commissioned this year only. He also pointed out that the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) has huge outstanding dues for power purchase and pending bills from the customers.

Chyne added that some PSUs like the Meghalaya Electronics Development Corporation Limited and Meghalaya Bamboo Chips Limited (MBCL) are in the process of closing down.

According to him, the Meghalaya Electronics Development Corporation Limited that has only 12 staff was running at a loss of Rs 4 crore. He said the Forest Development Corporation of Meghalaya has 47 employees and salaries are being paid to them without any profit.