TDP alleged that hurriedly after the polling the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government is trying to pay the bills to the contractors, who are close to the ruling establishment with the expectation that the YCP government will not return.
TDP chief and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in a letter to the Governor S Abdul Nazeer cautioned that Jagan’s government attempts on payment of bills to its own contractors violating the Model Code of Conduct, at the last minute of its term of office. He urged the governor to stop payment of such bills.
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, he said that 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.
Chandrababu said in the letter that the state government is running on daily debts and has often resorted to overdrafts from the Reserve Bank and other banks for the management of the government. He said that the government has not paid the PF and medical reimbursement to the retired employees.
He said that the hospital owners are terminating Aarogyasri services due to non-payment of bills. The government has also diverted the funds released under the Finance Commission to Panchayat Raj bodies.
“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, he urged the Governor to direct the Chief Secretary to government and the Finance Secretary to the government 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,
Naidu said that 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.