The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) National President N. Chandrababu Naidu wrote a letter to Governor S. Abdul Nazeer about the violation of the Model Code of Conduct in the State.
In the letter dated May 14 (Tuesday), Mr. Naidu said that it was reliably learnt that the State government was planning to release huge amounts of funds to certain select contractors without following the first in first out (FIFO) bills clearance procedure.
Earlier also, just before the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections was announced, the government had released large amounts to various contractors by withholding the release of funds for the committed welfare programmes under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which were long overdue, he alleged.
The representatives of the Chamber of Panchayat Raj have been agitating for many days over the diversion of funds due to them under the Finance Commission grants to the tune of ₹8,000 crore. Fresh borrowings of ₹4,000 crore and ₹7,000 crore raised through bonds by APMDC are being utilised for illegal payment of bills to crony contractors and political friends, the TDP chief alleged. Monitoring of use of funds at this critical stage is very important for the financial health of the State, he added.
‘’The attempts to release large chunks of funds to select contractors on out-of-turn basis with scant regard to FRBM norms and CFMS procedure, with a political agenda, will adversely impact the financial/fiscal condition of the State and these profligate attempts of the government should be curbed forthwith,’‘ he said.
“Therefore, the Chief Secretary to government and the Finance Secretary to the government may kindly be instructed to follow the established procedures and take care of the committed programmes under DBT and other welfare schemes followed by the release of funds to clear the pending bills of various government employees under different heads on priority,” he said, adding, “The Chief Secretary may also be directed to stop the proposed out-of-turn release of funds to the select contractors during the Model Code of Conduct period.”
Published - May 14, 2024 09:36 pm IST
