Vijayawada: Acting swiftly after new Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke of measures against corruption in government contracts, AP Chief Secretary L.V. Subramanyam issued orders to stop engineering works and cancel works which had not yet started despite getting approval before April 1.
Mr Subramanyam issued orders to stop payment to projects which had failed to achieve 25 per cent progress and to re-evaluate the project costs. He issued a memo on Thursday stating that the engineering works sanctioned earlier under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Manage-ment Act norms have become huge burden on the exchequer.
Mr Reddy, after assuming charge, held a meeting with Mr Subraman-yam to draw up measures to control misuse of government funds. At his swearing-in, he had spoken of ‘reverse contracts’ and a judicial commission to review tenders.
Mr Subramanyam said there was also a case for a thorough review of ongoing projects as priorities had not been followed by the contractors. He said that the thin spread of resources was proving to be financially unwise and directed government departments to be prudent.
He directed the cancellation of work sanctioned prior to April 1 but not yet started on the ground.
Step-1: Jagan disbands ‘team Naidu’ in AP CMO
Minutes after he was sworn-in, AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took control of the administration and the government and transferred several officials from the Chief Minister’s Office who were considered as “Team Naidu”.
Special chief secretary Satish Chandra, principal secretary G. Sai Prasad, secretaries Girija Shankar and Ad-usumilli V. Rajamouli were transferred and asked to report to the general administration department for further postings.
All eyes are now on who would occupy their positions in Mr Reddy’s CMO. An order was also issued appoin-ting APTDC MD K. Dhanunjaya Reddy as secretary to the Chief Minister.
In a related development, retired special grade deputy collector P. Krishna Mohan Reddy was appointed officer on special duty to the Chief Minister.
Another order was issued relieving AP Mineral Development Corporation Limited chairman Anil Chandra Punetha, who attains the age of superannuation on May 31. Mr Puentha was embroiled in a controversy for not implementing the orders of the Election Commission during the general elections after which he was shunted out as Chief Secretary.
Former chief secretary S.P. Tucker, who was the executive chairman of the AP Economic Develop-ment Board, has also resigned.
