VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that N. Chandrababu Naidu is the main accused in the skill development Siemens scam in which Rs 371 crore of public money was consumed by him and his men. Intervening in the discussion on skill development scam in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, Reddy said that Siemens had conducted an internal investigation and clarified that it has no connection with the scam, which is the biggest scam in the name of students in the country, Naidu knows how to pocket the looted money, he said.
The Chief Minister elaborated on how Naidu skillfully orchestrated the scam by getting an unauthorised private note of estimates approved in a Cabinet meeting leading to the issue of a GO and then signing a totally different MoU with the unauthorized persons for looting Rs 371 crore.
Reddy explained that Naidu had scripted and directed the scam so cunningly that the GO provisions and the MoU conditions were totally different. He further explained that while the Cabinet approved the private note and the related GO talked of 90% of the proposed total project cost of Rs 3,356 crore for the development of skills among youth coming from Siemens in the form of grant-in-aid, there was no mention of the grant-in-aid in the MoU.
“The grant-in-aid never came from Siemens but the TDP government hurriedly paid 10% of the project cost equaling Rs 371 crore (including taxes) in five tranches in three months. The scam broke out during the TD rule as the intended taxes were never paid but the CID probe never moved ahead as it was stalled by Naidu,” he said.
The Chief Minister explained, “When the lower level officials objected to the release of 10% financial aid without the grant-in-aid coming in from the Siemens, Naidu ordered release of the amount. Note files were signed by the principal finance secretary and the chief secretary. Attempts were also made to destroy these note files but they have been dug out now with the use of shadow files from other departments. “
He recalled that Siemens had told the court that it never implemented any skill development training schemes. Siemens also told the court in its affidavit that the arrested company officials with whom the TD government had signed the MoU never brought it to the notice of the higher management and they signed the MoU in their private capacity.
Reddy said “Naidu and his men entered into a conspiracy with former officials of Siemens (now in judicial custody) to loot public money. How can a Cabinet meeting approve a proposed note of the cost estimates prepared by individuals for establishing the skill development centers and clusters for training the youth taking it as DPR? The 10 per cent of the project cost went to the shell companies abroad and rerouted to Naidu’s pockets through money laundering channels.”
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