Probe CAG findings: Minister

Textiles And Weavers’ Welfare Minister P Shankar Rao on Wednesday insisted on constitution of an Experts’ Committee to go into the irregularities as pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report which was tabled in the state Assembly on Tuesday.

The Minister, who was in the news in the recent past for having filed a writ petition (as an MLA in November/December 2010) in the Andhra Pradesh High Court challenging the assets allegedly amassed by Kadapa leader and former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Ys Jaganamohan Reddy, said that he was quite pleased with the CAG Report.

Dr Shankar Rao said that CAG Report, which among others, pointed out various lapses in the projects’ construction and losses suffered by the government in thousands of crores.

Stating that the authorities concerned would manipulate the figures in the records following the CAG report which was tabled, the Minister suggested that the officiating Speaker Nadendla Manohar immediately seize the said records to avoid any misinterpretation or attempts to suppress the factual figures.

The Minister also demanded that an enquiry be conducted immediately and Report released within a month. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said and added that the culprits must be punished to facilitate transparent governance.

Similarly, Dr Shankar Rao also demanded that a high level enquiry be ordered into the Industries Department frauds which accrued to Rs 100 crore.

The Industries Directorate allowed funds up to Rs 50 lakh to SC and ST beneficiaries for purchasing vehicles merely on production of caste certificate, which was being misused by the officials concerned, the Minister alleged.

Dr Shankar Rao also welcomed Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s announcement in the state assembly on constitution of a House Committee to probe the land allocations made to Mr Jaganmohan Reddy’s business partners in the city as demanded by the entire opposition.