Police Secure Some Persons After Power Dept Hard Disks Go Missing
Nirmal Kumar said instructions have been issued to the staff to ensure the safe custody of all files and to take backup copies of all the data stored in computers.
Chennai:Electricity minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar on Thursday told the media that a few persons had been secured in the police investigation and a few more persons will be arrested soon in the case relating to missing hard disks in the electricity department. The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) has also registered a complaint with the Triplicane police on the missing disks having important details of procurement.
Several hard disks having details of TNPDCL tender and procurement of equipment have gone missing from May after the new government ordered an investigation into corruption charges in issuing tenders and procurement of materials such as transformers.
Nirmal Kumar said instructions have been issued to the staff to ensure the safe custody of all files and to take backup copies of all the data stored in computers.
The minister said the police are inquiring into the motives behind the theft of the hard disks containing important information. He did not go further into the details, saying he did not want to say anything when action was being taken. Nirmal Kumar said the staff had started preparing the backup data relating to tenders issued over the past five years, coal contracts and the documents on contract employees stored in all the computer systems. Regarding the charges on transformer procurement, all the related information had already been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The minister said preliminary inquiries had revealed the possible involvement of employees working within the department and some of the workers were kept in suspension, adding there is a suspicion that the thefts could have taken place as a continuation of those developments. The minister did not specify the number of hard disks missing since an enumeration of the missing disks is going on.
During a meeting with investors on the energy sector on May 25, the industrialists complained to the minister that the tenders in the electricity department were allocated to a few companies which paid high commission for the contracts. Responding to their complaints, the minister had ordered an inquiry into the irregularities and promised to bring transparency into the procurement of solar and wind energy from private investors.
The minister also noted last week that the expenses of the department were about Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 70,000 crore three years ago. After the tariff revision by the department, the revenue went up to about Rs. 1 lakh crore but the expenses increased by another Rs. 30,000 lakh. The new government ordered an investigation on how the expenses increased when there is no major project or change in cost of purchase.
The minister also said the tenders were stopped since there were problems in estimation and tender policies. For example, the TNEB itself had quoted Rs. 15 lakh for a transformer when the real cost is Rs. 8 lakh. When there are problems in estimation, the board would have to devise a new policy and correction of policies would be carried out wherever required, he said.
