DHAKA, Nov 8: Ruling BNP lawmakers at a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday accused the state minister in charge of the Power Division of incompetence.

The MPs berated the minister while reviewing a purchase scheme for the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) at a meeting of the standing committee on the Ministry of Energy, Power and Mineral Resources.

They also smelled corruption in the bidding process that delayed the purchase of some 8,000 three-phase electric meters for DESA. The ministry initiated the purchase in April 2003, but it failed to issue work order for the scheme 19 months after floating open bidding. "You are not working well, and you are not even aware of your responsibilities," one of the lawmakers charged the state minister, Iqbal Hasan Mahmood, at the meeting.