Revanth Reddy hit the ground running by going after the allegations of corruption in irrigation, power projects, and other departments.
File photos of Revanth Reddy and K Chandrashekar Rao. (Supplied)
The Revanth Reddy-led state government is bearing down on the previous BRS dispensation by speeding up the string of inquiries it had ordered into several projects executed in various sectors.
The inquiry into what was touted as the mother of all scams— irregularities in the Kaleswharam Lift Irrigation Scheme— is all set to begin.
The state government on 12 March appointed former Supreme Court Judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose with a mandate to complete the assignment within 100 days from the date of commencement of the inquiry.
The same day, the government appointed a retired Judge L Narasimha Reddy to probe the irregularities suspected to have taken place in the setting up of Bhadradri, Yadadri Power plants and the previous BRS government’s power purchase agreements with power producers in Chhattisgarh.
The judicial panel has also been tasked to complete the injury within 100 days.
Revanth Reddy, after winning the Assembly elections in December last year, hit the ground running by going after the allegations of corruption not only in irrigation and power projects but also in other departments.
His to-do list included the Sheep scam and alleged irregularities in Dharani—an integrated land records management initiative.
For Revanth Reddy, winning a maximum number of Lok Sabha seats—his target is about 12—is crucial with an impact on his longevity, as too many within his party eyeing his position.
Also breathing down on his neck is the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already going to town saying that a covert relationship exists between the BRS and the Congress and that both were partners in crime.
He had even said that both parties are beneficiaries of the proceeds of the KLIS scam and questioned Congress for not initiating any resolute action against those involved in the scam.
In fact, a lot of water has already flowed in Godavari since the Revanth Reddy dispensation began looking with a mega lens at the scam.
The immediate provocation for the Congress to order inquiry was the sinking of three piers of Medigadda barrage, part of KLIS, in October, a little over a month ahead of Assembly elections.
The mishap could not have come at a worse time for the BRS as Congress took full advantage of the mishap and went for the kill.
After visiting the damaged portions of the barrage on 2 November, 2023, Revanth Reddy, who was PCC president then, along with Congress senior leader and MP Rahul Gandhi, said: “KCR has killed Kalshewaram. Now Kaleshwaram will kill KCR.”
His doomsday prophecy, unfortunately for the BRS, came true. The Medigadda project’s piers had sunk to a depth of 1.2 metres and the money spent on the project, about ₹4,600 crore, went down the drain, according to the state government’s sources.
In the very first Assembly session after coming to power, Revanth Reddy government ordered the judicial probe with a sitting High Court Judge.
Later the government wrote to the Chief Justice of the High Court to spare a sitting judge. The CJ politely refused, citing lack of enough number of judges and suggesting him to appoint a retired judge which he did recently.
Even before the CJ’s response, the state government ordered an inquiry by the vigilance and enforcement department into Medidgadda and other components of KLIS, based on which the government had axed Engineer-in-Chief, Irrigation Department and the other officials who were responsible for the project’s construction.
The state government simultaneously wrote to the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) to send a team to inspect the project to know what went wrong and how it could be restored. Their investigation is in progress.
The team held talks with state government officials on Wednesday and in the next two days, they would make a fresh inspection of the three barrages—Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its report, tabled in the Assembly on 15 February, said that there was a possibility of causing an undue benefit of ₹2,684 crore to the contractors of KLIS, which only further strengthened the argument that KLIS has become a “stain on Telangana’s identity.”
The CAG also said the Telangana government exhibited undue haste in awarding 17 works costing ₹25,049 crore even before the approval of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) by the Central Water Commission (CWC) in June 2018.
The CAG said that the state inflated the cost of the project by bringing in additional components and an increased capacity of water drawn from the Godavari river from 2 tmcft per day to 3 tmcft per day, though unwarranted, which entailed an additional investment of ₹28,151 crore.
The report said that the scope of the work under 21 contracts, inter alia, involved the supply and installation of lifts with a total capacity of 8,338 MW.
The Department of Irrigation provided ₹17,653 crore towards the cost of the pumps, motors, and auxiliary equipment without assessing the market rates.
The report pointed out that the actual cost at which the contractors procured the equipment from BHEL was ₹7,212 crore, which was higher by ₹5,525 crore as their actual cost was ₹1,686 crore.
Even when 30 percent of the estimated cost was allowed as overheads and contractors’ profit, the possibility of undue benefit of at least ₹2,684 crore to the contractors of these works could not be ruled out, noted the audit report.
The report also pointed out that considering the likely cost of the works yet to be entrusted, land acquisition, rehabilitation, resettlement, and interest during construction, the project was now likely to cost more than ₹1.47 lakh crore as against the cost of ₹81,911 crore projected to the CWC.
The capital cost of the irrigation works out to ₹6.42 lakh per acre. Another scary discovery was that the project would require ₹10,374 crore towards energy charges every year.
The lifts under the project would require 8,459 MW of power, which works out to 46.82 percent of the total installed capacity presently available in the state.
The project requires a total of 14,344 million units of energy every year after completion.
The peak energy demand, when all the pumps are likely to be operated simultaneously, during pumping season, works out to 203 million units per day. This is more than the average daily energy availed— 196 million units per day—in the entire state in 2021-22.
The state government on 21 December, 2023 ordered a judicial inquiry into a power purchase agreement with power producers in Chhattisgarh and the irregularities suspected to have taken place in the construction of Yadaadri and Bhadrardi thermal power plants when the BRS was in power.
The accusation against the then-state government was that it had signed a PPA with Chattisgarh for the purchase of 1,000 MW power without calling tenders.
The chief minister while announcing inquiry in the Assembly said that it had placed an unbearable burden of ₹1,362 crore on the state.
Another allegation was that corruption running into thousands of crores of rupees took place in the execution of the Bhadradri Power Project, and the inordinate delay in the completion of the Yadadri Power Plant. Yadadri plant was allegedly delayed due to the use of outdated sub-critical technology.
Yadadri power station was to be completed within 24 months from the date of laying its foundation stone in June 2015.
However, it has not yet been completed. Even now estimates are being revised and would take up to 2024-25 for completion.
Intervening in a debate on a white paper on the power sector tabled in the state Assembly, the chief minister, said that the power purchase agreements with Chhattisgarh were signed without inviting tenders.
“When we raised the issue and confronted the then government in the Assembly, it had us bundled out using marshals,” he said, adding that the government had transferred an employee to a remote place after he spoke the truth about the agreements.
Another scam during the tenure of the BRS government into which Revanth Reddy ordered an inquiry by vigilance and enforcement officials is the sheep distribution scheme.
He, while ordering an inquiry, referred to the CAG report which pointed out the occurrence of irregularities and corruption in the scheme.
After the ACB was entrusted with the investigation of the ₹253 crore sheep scam in January, it arrested several officials, including veterinary department joint director Anjilappa and assistant director P Krishnaiah.
The CAG report pointed out various irregularities including fabrication of invoices, duplication of ear tags and improper usage of ambulances, two-wheelers, and other vehicles for the transportation of sheep.
The officers were alleged to have procured sheep without seeing sheep sellers and all the forms to be filled by government officials were filled by others.
They also uploaded fake sellers’ details on the department’s online portal at the procurement location.
The CAG report showed that there were incredible pieces of information in the official versions: in one instance, an ambulance was used to transport 84 sheep in a single trip in Khammam district, 126 sheep were transported in a single trip in Sangareddy on a two-wheeler, a cab was used to transport 168 sheep in a single trip in Mahbubnagar district, and an auto was used in Nalgonda district to ferry 126 sheep.
The sheep distribution scheme was launched by the BRS government in April 2017. Under the scheme, the government provides 75 percent of the cost of a sheep, and the remaining 25 percent is borne by the beneficiary.
A committee was constituted to inquire into the management of the Dharnai portal in February and in its interim report to the chief minister, it listed out several flaws.
The arduous journey for those whose lands mysteriously “disappeared” or fell into the enigmatic realm of the “restricted category” within the Dharani Portal might come to an end soon as the committee is in an advanced stage of completing its assignment.
On 24 February, Revanth Reddy issued a directive for a comprehensive investigation into the upkeep of the Dharani portal by a private company originally entrusted with the task.
He was shocked to discover that ILFS, the company overseeing the portal, had declared bankruptcy, leading to a precarious shifting of maintenance responsibilities across various entities.
The Chief Minister questioned the wisdom of entrusting the safeguarding of farmers’ land records — typically a government-held responsibility — to a foreign-based private agency.
Favouring the formulation of new legislation for revenue record maintenance, Revanth Reddy emphasised the importance of considering the recommendations put forth by the Dharani committee while processing the backlog of long-pending applications.
Delving into the intricacies of the 2.45 lakh pending Dharani-related cases in the state, the Chief Minister urged officials to expedite resolutions, recognising the prolonged wait endured by farmers seeking solutions to their predicaments.
The Dharani committee members briefed the Chief Minister on deficiencies in the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 2020.
They highlighted hasty land surveys conducted by the previous BRS government, resulting in disputes and litigations due to errors in land records.
Though the Revenue Department had given a window for rectification of errors in the records in 35 modules, the farmers who did not have the necessary knowledge of the modules, faced several problems.
This led to the rejection of lakhs of applications for rectification of anomalies. The farmers’ issues were compounded by a hefty ₹1,000 fee for each correction.
The Dharani committee said that the lack of coordination between the registration and revenue departments allowed transactions for lands in the restricted category, too, leading to potential misuse of Rythu Bandhu funds credited to ineligible recipients.
The committee advocated either amending the existing act or introducing a new one to address these issues comprehensively.
The Chief Minister also ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the maintenance of the Dharani portal by the agency it was entrusted to.
He questioned the logic behind entrusting a portal, which should be under the control of the Chief Commissioner, of Land Administration, to a foreign private company.
“The land records to be maintained in secrecy have been entrusted to a foreign company. The land records, Aadhaar details, and bank account information are now with the company. Is the data safe or is there any threat of breach of security,” he asked.
The officials apprised him that in 2018, ILFS had been given the maintenance work after the then government called for technical and financial bids. The company later went bankrupt and then the portal changed hands.
The Chief Minister expressed dismay. “How can we allow the transfer of the data of the farmers from one company to the other, particularly those that are based abroad,” he asked.
The Chief Minister said that it was astonishing to note that the company, which was initially awarded the tender for ₹116 crore in 2018, managed to offload its shares for ₹1,200 crore.
He said that there was no guarantee that the company did not tamper with the land records. He said that he had information that registrations took place even at midnight.
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