INTUC-affiliated Nikhila Odisha Bidyut Sramika Mahasangh (NOBSM)) on Wednesday urged upon the consumers of Odisha to get united to send back the Reliance company from the energy sector of the State and unearth the nexus between the Reliance and three distribution companies (discoms) such as Nesco, Wesco and Southco.
Even after completion of five years of agreement with the Reliance, why the State Government is silent on the issue of renewal of licence, the Mahasangh questioned. According to information available, a case had been registered before the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission for cancellation of the licence of the company. During the hearing of the case, the Commission reportedly had issued a show cause notice on January 27, 2006 to the company based on evidences produced asking the company as to why the licence should not be cancelled. Against the order, the company made an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal at Delhi which was also quashed. Even the Supreme Court in its order dated January 5, 2009 considered the show cause notice as valid. If the company has violated the show cause notice, its licence should have been cancelled, said Mahasangh general secretary Akshya Kumar Tripathy.
Instead of cancellation of the licence, the Commission declared the hearing on August 22, 2009 seeking the opinion of the Government in the matter which is unwarranted and uncalled for, Tripathy pointed out. After the publication of the judgment of the hearing, petitioner Sarat Chandra Mohanty had submitted a memorandum and sat on fast. As a result, the Commission had issued its order on May 12, 2011. It said that if the company fails to fulfill all the conditions, the licence should be cancelled. Ironically, the terms and conditions of the show cause notice issued by the Commission in 2002 and the orders of the Supreme Court five years later were the same. Even the Reliance Company not only failed to execute the share holder’s agreement but also remained a non actor on NTPC bond and did not bring any improvement in the customer’s service, said Tripathy.
Tripathy further alleged that even after the lapse of the prescribed period, the Commission failed to take any exemplary action against Reliance as per the orders of the SC and remained as mute spectator which is quite unfortunate, he pointed out. The State Government is deliberately befooling the public since 2005 by taking several unwanted measures only to showcase its false promises, Tripathy alleged. The report of a panel of the State Assembly constituted on May 8, 2006 under the chairmanship of Bishnu Das had recommended withdrawing the Reliance from the energy distribution and management system. Ignoring this report, the State Government had again constituted Bibek Pattnaik Committee which had submitted its report on February 5, 2007 the recommendations of which also remain unimplemented. Ironically, the Government once again constituted another Minister level committee under the chairmanship of former Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadai, the report of which is yet to be published for the best reasons known to the Government.
On the other hand, the distribution companies managed by the Reliance failed to pay counter party funding for which Odisha could not get Rs 5 crore as assistance under APDRP scheme of the Central Government during the 10th Five Years Plan. So also it had to sustain loss of thousands of crores of rupees as Central Government assistance under the RPDRP scheme.
More shockingly, the Reliance firm has failed to spend a single pie on infrastructure in energy sector in the State during last 12 years, but crores of rupees from the consumers are being looted and spent unethically, Tripathy alleged. He further said that the company is not paying its attention on proper maintenance of the electric equipment posing threat to public life. Most of the electric poles have rusted; the frequency of unscheduled load shedding has increased, while most of the transformers have gone defunct and remain unchanged for years, Tripathy said.
The Mahasangh also alleged that on the mere pretext of pilferage and theft of energy worth Rs 1,556 crores, the three energy distribution companies are now contemplating to raise the existing energy bill of the consumers for which they have already submitted their demand which is unlawful. Since last 12 years, the entire expenditure shown to have been incurred by the companies has not yet been audited deliberately, Mahasangh alleged, demanding that all accounts of the companies be audited.