Holding the Odisha Government completely responsible for mismanagement in the power sector, the National Institute of Indian labour (NIIl) on Sunday hailed the decision of the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) in revoking the licences of the three Reliance Infrastructure-managed power distribution companies and demanded CAG audit and CBI probe into the irregularities.
NIIl secretary Ramesh Chandra Satpathy said, “The three power distribution companies had been looting genuine consumers with the knowledge of the Government. Neither did they invest a single a pie in the sector nor show any interest in ensuring quality power which is evident with the OERC cancelling the licences.”
Urging the State Government not to allow private companies to take charge of power distribution further, Satpathy also criticised the Government for tolerating the abysmal performance as well as financial irregularities of the distribution companies.
It may be noted that under Section 19 of the Electricity Act, 2003, the OERC has cancelled licences granted to Reliance Infrastructure to manage three power distribution companies of the State last week.
Satpathy urged the Government to bring the other discom, Cesu, under its control soon to avoid any major irregularities in future.
Seeking CAG audit of transmission and financial positions of different stakeholders involved in the process of transportation and distribution (T&D), including the three Reliance-managed distribution companies, he said that under the present system of company-appointed auditors, the balance sheets of discoms reflect huge losses.
“That is why there is need to entrust the audit to a Constitutional body like th CAG,” said Satpathy.