VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Finance Buggana Rajendranath squarely blamed the previous TDP government, especially former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for the multi-crore scam involving the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC).
During a short discussion on ‘Global Investors Summit - Skill Development for Youth - Employment’ in the State Assembly on the sixth day of the ongoing budget session, Buggana said the foundation for the scam was laid just 2-3 months after Naidu came to power.
“Even without going for tenders, based on a note file, the Rs 3,356 crore worth project was sanctioned after clearing it as a special item in the cabinet meeting. There was no project DPR and no certification before the green signal was given to the project,” he alleged.
Buggana at length and in detail explained to the house what happened in the scam and how it started from the meeting of the two prime accused in the scam with the then Chief Minister Naidu.“What was agreed was that the company would bear the 90% of the project cost, while the government would bear the remaining 10% cost,” he said.
Citing the forensic audit report, the Finance Minister said the signatures of Suman Bose and Soumyadri Shekhar Bose, are different though both names are of the same person, who was supposed to work for Siemens company.
Later in the investigation by GST authorities and CID, it came to light that the agreement between Suman Bose on behalf of the company and the State government was not known to the Siemens global company.
He said a depth investigation into the entire episode had revealed even more shocking developments.
There was the unauthorised transfer of funds released by the government to several shell companies, though not even a single work had happened as per the agreement between the APSSDC and the government.
“It should also be noted that as per the notes and the communication from the finance department and the government, funds were released on the directions of the then Chief Minister Naidu at the request of the then MD of APSSDC Ganta Subba Rao,” Buggana elaborated.
Before explaining the scam, the Finance Minister at length highlighted the Skill Development Scheme being implemented in the State as per the initiative of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He said already 192 skill hubs have been set in 175 Assembly constituencies, which make up the lower tier of the pyramid, while 21 centres of excellence have been established in 26 districts, which make up the middle tire and setting up of the skilled university, which makes up the top tier of the pyramid is in an advanced stage.
“The objective is to identify the areas, where the skills are needed and what type of skills, identify the skills suitable to youth that can help them get high salaried jobs and at the same time make optimum use of the available infrastructure. In fact, the government has spent only Rs 25 crore for setting up skill hubs and centres of excellence,” Buggana informed the Legislative Assembly.
Efforts are on to provide skill training to more than 50,000 youths a year, he said and added that tapping Central funds for training and using knowledge partners, additional skills have been imparted to 1.83 lakh students of 498-degree colleges in the State, so as to enable them to get good placements.