VIJAYAWADA: The remand report filed by the AP Crime Investigation Department (CID) in the ACB Special Court against Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in connection with the alleged AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam has mentioned all irrelevant issues, the TDP maintained.
Giving a point-by-point rebuttal to the allegations in the remand report, TDP MLA Payyavula Keshav said officials, with a view to providing a better future to the youth and after conducting a survey on the skill development project, which was launched in Gujarat in 2013, recommended that the same could be replicated in the State.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the AP government with Siemens Industry Software India (Siemens Software), which has its units in eight States, including Gujarat, and with DesignTech with similar conditions and for the same amount in 2015. The AP High Court, while sanctioning bail to the representatives of Siemens and DesignTech, who were taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate, in its order remarked that there was no misuse of funds in the project and 2,13,000 students were imparted training in skill development through 42 centres, Keshav mentioned.
On the allegation that of the total Rs 370 crore investment by the State government, Rs 279 crore was diverted to the personal accounts and some shell companies to utilise the public money for personal gains, Keshav said, “The fact is that the total project cost was Rs 3,281 crore and of which Siemens would extend software worth 90% of the outlay and the State government release the remaining 10% to organise training programmes. One cluster with one centre of excellence and five training centres costs Rs 550 crore and the total cost of six clusters is Rs 3,300 crore and of which the State government’s share was Rs 330 crore and if the Rs 40 crore GST was included, the total investment was Rs 370 crore.’’
The then secretary of the skill development wing Premachandra Reddy had paid Rs 30 crore to the Central Institute of Tool Design of the Union Government as consultancy fee, finalised each cluster cost at Rs 550 crore and he released the funds. DesignTech purchased Siemens Software at Rs 330 crore with a discount of 95 to 97%, he explained.
Stating that Siemens itself had admitted that it paid Rs 70 crore for this, he said 42 training centres were set up in various parts of the State, in which the necessary computers and other infrastructure too were set up, besides appointing trainees and bearing the other expenditure. The centres had run successfully for four years and 2,13,000 youths were provided employment, the TDP MLA claimed.
“The CID is just cooking up the stories to make the people believe. It is really ridiculous that some leaders are simply manipulating the issues and making baseless allegations as if something has happened. Whether it is the formation of the Skill Development Corporation or any other special wing, everything takes place under the supervision of officials. The Chief Minister and the cabinet ministers take only policy decisions,’’ he elaborated.
The then Secretary (Finance) PV Ramesh had made it clear that his predecessor Ajeya Kallam (who is now Advisor in the Chief Minister’s Office) played a key role in these agreements. Ramesh, in his written reply to the CID said the then Secretary Premachandra Reddy assured him of supervising the implementation of the MoU. The issues like there was no bank guarantee, funds were not released in installments and that the suggestions given by the Secretary (Finance) were not followed, all this should be followed by Premachandra Reddy as mentioned by Ramesh, Keshav opined.