Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has openly admitted to corruption in his government, naming some departments struck by the malaise.
The revenue and health departments, which were specifically named by Mr Naidu, are handled by Deputy Chief Minister K.E. Krishnamurthy and Dr K. Srinivas. While Mr Krishnamurthy had been in the news very recently after his recommendations on some transfers were rejected by the CM, Dr Srinivas is from the BJP and has come for adverse notice earlier over the performance of the health department following the rat bite case at the Guntur Government Hospital. The third department Mr Naidu mentioned was the municipal administration, headed by P. Narayana.
Addressing the collectors’ conference in Vijayawada on Friday, Mr Naidu expressed his displeasure at the malaise, saying that the departments had crossed “double digit growth in corruption” while despite his government’s best efforts, such rapid growth was not seen in the GSDP.
Saying “the health department has gone to dogs”, Mr Naidu said the revenue department was still tainted by the malaise but it can be cleansed using technology. The new schemes introduced recently will help the cleansing process, he said.
Mr Naidu said the government was taking note of the public response very seriously. He said that the people were satisfied with the overall performance of his government, but three departments are beset with corruption.
At his plain speaking best, he said that the government’s new sand policy has not yielded the desired results yet and may require fine-tuning. “The sand mafia is utilising the sand scarcity to its advantage. The local authorities must review the situation and take corrective steps,” Mr Naidu said.
