Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has wandered over diversion of central funds by Swachhandhra Corporation and asked officials to trace flow of those funds and fix accountability. Conducting a review, he wondered to find that as again Rs 2092.65 crore funds in the accounts of Swachhandhra Corporation in the financial year 2020-21, only Rs.7 crores are left.
He said that he needed a more in-depth review of the diversion of funds in the Swachhandra Corporation and wanted to know where the funds were diverted and under whose orders the work was done?
Officials brought to Pawan Kalyan’s attention that this corporation has used only Rs.728.35 crores in 2020-21. In 2021-22, Rs. 508 crores were spent. They said that by the end of that financial year, Rs.1066.36 crores were in the account. However, it was explained that the records show that only Rs.3 crores are in the corporation’s account as of the beginning of the financial year 2022-23.
In that financial year, the central government sanctioned funds of Rs.70 crores, while the state government provided funds of Rs.20 crores. Officials said that Rs.46 crore was spent out of this. In 2023-24, funds received from the central and state governments and the interest received on them were to the tune of Rs.239 crores. The expenditure was Rs.209 crores.
In the current financial year, only Rs 7.04 crore is still remaining, officials said. The Deputy Chief Minister clarified that only if the funds of Swachhandhra Corporation are properly utilized, the objectives set for this organization can be achieved. He said that Swachhandhra was formed as a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s good intention to bring Swachh Bharat Mission for public health.
Pawan Kalyan criticized that it was an unfortunate practice of the previous government rulers to keep the funds given by the Center in bank accounts for months, without using them even if interest is earned from those funds and then diverting them to other needs.
He lamented that the remaining of only Rs 3 crore in the corporation’s account at the beginning of the financial year reflects the extent of funds diversion by the YCP regime. He deplored that they have undermined Swachhandhra Corporation’s objectives.