TWAD Board suffers from financial woes

It is said that the board failed to pay Rs 100 crore, which was overdue and the additional grace period is going to end. The board may lose power connectivity. The board is under severe financial crisis as it even unable to pay retirement benefits to the officials, who retired last February. It has also asked extension of payment due to the TANGEDCO.

Speaking to the media, K K Rajan, Deputy State Leader of the AITUC, said, “The agency is working on 537 integrated drinking water projects across the state. The maintenance cost of these projects is around 60% of the total cost. So, by average, every month Rs 30 crore has been paid as power bill.”

“Since August the agency has failed to pay EB bill because of the financial deficit. Hence the bill has accumulated to Rs 100 crore along with a fine, which has to be paid within a month. If the boards fails to do so, it will lose out power connectivity without further notice,” he explained.

Charging a lesser amount as the cost of maintenance and pending dues from local bodies are the few reasons for the loss, he said. Moreover, as the government is refusing to bear administrative expenditures of the board, this has become another cause for financial loss faced by the board, he noted.

The government should bear the payment of both administrative and EB charges. Government should take up the administrative cost by following Centage system of the British era (1926) with an increase of 15.5% for administrative expenditures. Paying for retired employees and filling up vacant posts should be done by the government to keep the agency’s function intact, he suggested.

Upon enquiry, the Madurai TWAD Board officials accepted the facts and ensured they will protect the interests of the public by ensuring their services are not disrupted.