VIJAYAWADA: Accusing the State government of making payments to the tune Rs 40,000 crore in gross violation of well-regulated accounting rules and procedures, TDP MLA and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Payyavula Keshav has urged Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan to initiate a full-fledged audit of AP Finance department by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 in order to find irregularities and prevent the same in future.
In a representation submitted to the Governor at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday, Keshav said: “Any payments or receipts of the government are to be routed through the Treasuries and Accounts Department in a transparent manner and any deviations to this will have devastating consequences. It has come to my notice that large sums, to the extent of Rs 40,000 crore, have not been accounted as per the codal provisions.”
He said that it appeared that the said amount was transferred or withdrawn in gross violation of the Andhra Pradesh Treasury Code. It may not be out of context to quote Article 166 of the Indian Constitution, all executive action of the government of a State shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Governor.
Talking to reporters, the TDP leader said the government should be answerable to the public and to the Assembly as to why there were no vouchers, no receipts and no bills of any sort for Rs 41,043.08 crore government spendings. The truth should come out whether these massive accounting lapses were deliberately carried out, he asserted.
Stating that the Governor had listened to the TDP plea patiently and promised to look into the matter, he said that in any government set-up, accounts should be maintained for every single rupee. A small employee would have to get approvals and signatures for a government transaction of just Rs 100. Quite alarmingly, the finance department was not able to show proper accounts for thousands of crores under the YSRC regime, he alleged.
The TDP MLA said that the proof for these massive lapses was the report of the AP Principal Accountant General dated May 04, 2021, which stated that 10,806 bills involving Rs 41,043.08 crore were drawn under the special bill category. The finance department did not follow the codal provisions like details of classification, DDO and beneficiary details, sanction proceedings and sub vouchers.