Desa's financial statement says it owes Tk 4,000 crore to Power Development Board (PDB) but the public and private sector electricity subscribers owe Tk 2,004 crore to Desa that shows a mismatch of Tk 2,000 crore.

Referring to the statement, members of the parliamentary standing committee on power, energy and mineral resources ministry blamed the Desa officials for the huge loss and their failure to realise the Tk 2,004 crore outstanding bills.

"Desa officials said it is due to system loss. There is a huge mismatch in their accounts and we fear the money was embezzled by the corrupt staff," Committee Chairman Shahidul Islam told The Daily Star after a committee meeting yesterday.

State Minister for Power Iqbal Hassan Mahmood who was present at the meeting expressed frustrations and helplessness in realising the long outstanding bills.

Speaking on the ministry's initiatives to realise the unpaid bills, Mahmood said he has tried his best but the recovered amount is very little.

The committee members held the Desa officials responsible for the outstanding bills, saying the officials are not sincere in taking steps to realise the arrears.

"We have asked Desa to submit a report at our next meeting with all information on the outstanding bills and accurate figures of system loss," said the committee chairman.

Criticising the officials of the Power Division, committee member and Awami League lawmaker Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim told the meeting that the traceless amount in Desa account has stood at Tk 2,000 crore from only Tk 10 crore in 1995.

Committee member and BNP lawmaker Sardar Shakhawat Hossain Bakul said stern action should be taken against the corrupt officials for the huge loss.

The meeting also discussed the progress of the proposed Siddhirganj-2 power plant.