Hyderabad: Perhaps in a first of its kind in the country, the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh will set up a judicial commission led by a sitting or retired High Court judge to scrutinise all works relating to public project works above Rs 100 crore. This move is intended to remove corruption and irregularities in awarding of contracts especially in the irrigation sector.
Jagan chaired a Cabinet meeting on Friday night to adopt a draft bill to pave way for the constitution of a judicial panel to ensure transparency in government works. The bill is likely to be tabled in the Assembly either in the ongoing budget session or would be brought in as an ordinance after that. Sources in the CMO said that Jagan was keen on setting up this panel at the earliest.
Immediately after assuming charge as Chief Minister on 30 May, Jagan broached the idea of having a judicial commission led by a sitting HC judge to approve every tender relating to irrigation works so that there won’t be any scope for corruption or misgivings at a later stage. He subsequently called on AP High Court Chief Justice C. Praveen Kumar to seek a judge for the panel.
The Chief Justice is believed to have raised shortage of judges in HC to be spared for this commission though the idea was commendable, and suggested that there shall be an arrangement for appointment of a retired judge, if necessary. The CJI is also learnt to have suggested that there should be an Act for constituting such a panel. Jagan has promptly accepted both the suggestions.
The setting up of a judicial commission has been necessitated as Jagan came to power by accusing his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP government of being steeped in corruption, especially in irrigation projects in the last five years. Jagan, during the electioneering, trained his guns against corruption in the multi-billion rupees Polavaram irrigation project across Godavari river by the Naidu regime.
Though Polavaram has been declared as a national project and it would be wholly funded by the Centre, its execution part including finalisation of tenders and quality control has been looked after by the state government. The Rs 56,000 crore project has become a bone of contention between the Centre and state at one stage before the elections.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his electioneering in Andhra had alleged that Polavaram along with Amaravati capital city project had become ATM cards for the TDP government, meaning they had become tools to draw money at will. Jagan, too, accused the Naidu government of allotting several sub-contracts of Polavaram to the firms owned by TDP.
The Centre had to accept a recommendation of the state to change the main contractor, Transstroy, and entrust the works to Navayuga for expediting the construction and releasing water before elections by December 2018. However, that hasn’t happened, but the Centre objected to the way the project works were let out to different sub-contractors.
YSR Congress Irrigation Minister Anil Kumar, while replying to a discussion in the AP Legislative Council this week, said that almost all the 60 plus irrigation projects, including Polavaram, would be subjected to a thorough review by the new government as there were charges of corruption at various levels.
In the draft Bill finalised by the Jagan Cabinet, the judicial commission would first go through the bids and their terms and later approve their allocation to contractors. All payments to contractors would be processed through the commission so that there won’t be scope for doubts. Jagan had earlier said that anyone who raised baseless charges against the commission’s rulings would be prosecuted.
The Jagan government would also introduce a method of “reverse tendering” in which all the allotted works would again be placed for fresh tenders and those who quoted less than the current rates would be allotted the same. This way, the government intends to save around Rs 12,000 crore on irrigation projects in the state.
The Opposition TDP has found fault with the Jagan government for stalling Polavaram on the pretext of appointing a judicial commission. “The project is likely to be delayed by several months, denying the farmers water,” said former finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu.
TDP sees “reverse tendering” as a ploy to allot the irrigation works to the contractors close to the ruling party. But Minister Anil explained that the CM’s efforts were aimed at cleansing the system and ensuring transparency in public works. “If we succeed in our efforts, the entire country would follow us soon,” he said.