Srinivasa Rao, who was assistant secretary of the planning department of the state government, "fled" the country after the government machinery under the then YS Jaga Mohan Reddy's dispensation began hunting him down for his alleged role in the ₹370 crore Skill Development Corporation scam.
Published Sep 10, 2024 | 4:14 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 10, 2024 | 6:47 PM
Pendyala Srinivasa Rao with Chandrababu Naidu. (X)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s trusted lieutenant and his long-time Personal Assistant Pendyala Srinivasa Rao had a happy reunion with his master after being in the wilderness for quite some time now.
Srinivasa Rao, who was assistant secretary of the planning department of the state government, “fled” the country after the government machinery under the then YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s dispensation began hunting him down for his alleged role in the ₹370 crore Skill Development Corporation scam.
Before listing him as an accused in the case, the government suspended him on 29 September, 2023, for violation of Andhra Pradesh Civil Servies Conduct rules, 1964, pending inquiry.
The government then initiated departmental proceedings against him for his unauthorised absence from duty and leaving the country without prior sanction and permission in violation of AP Civil Services conduct rules.
Skill Development Corporation scam rocked the state last year following the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu on 9 September, 2023 at Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh by the Crime Investigation Department (CID). The scam involved the alleged creation of fake invoices and the alleged diversion of funds through a fake Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Siemens and DesignTech Systems.
The then CID Additional Director General N Sanjay had said Srinivasa Rao and one Manoj Vasudev Pardasni of DesignTech, played an important role in the scam and that they had fled the country.
He had said Manoj had left for the UAE on 5 September last year while Srinivasa Rao was in the US.
After the return of Chandrababu Naidu as the chief minister in June this year, the state government issued a GO on 9 September exonerating all the charges against Srinivasa Rao and reinstated him back in his post of assistant secretary to the government in the planning department.
The GO also regualrised the suspension period from 29 September, 2023 to 6 August 2024 as “on duty.”
The Skill Development Corporation scam is alleged to have taken place when Chandrababu Naidu was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh between 2014 and 2019.
It was during this period that the state government’s organ Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (ASPDC) signed an MoU with Siemens Industry Software and Design Teh Systems Pvt Ltd.
The Skill Development Corporation was meant to train unemployed youths to acquire skills that would improve their prospects of landing good jobs.
The project cost was estimated at ₹3,356 crore of which the state government’s liability was to be only 10 percent — about ₹335 crore. The Skill Development Corporation came into being on 19 January, 2015.
After Jagan Mohan Reddy took over as the chief minister in 2019, the CID registered a case and began investigating the alleged scam.
The charges against the accused were that the government had released ₹371 crore even without the other partner Siemens not spending even a rupee. The CID had said that ₹130 crore had been spent on the project while ₹241 crore was funnelled into shell companies.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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