Chandrababu Naidu kingpin of skill development scam: Jagan

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has blamed his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu for the Rs 371 crore “skill development scam.”

The Chief Minister told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that the entire scam amount reached the Telugu Desam Party president and his men through shell companies.

Jagan said that four persons were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case.

Intervening in the discussion on the skill development scam, the chief minister said that “Naidu skillfully orchestrated the scam by getting an unauthorised private note of estimates approved in the Cabinet meeting leading to the issuance of a governement order and then signing a totally different MoU with the unauthorised persons for looting public money to the tune of Rs 371 crore.”

While the Cabinet approved private note and the related GO talked of 90 per cent of the proposed total project cost of Rs 3356 crore for the development of the skills of the youth in the state coming from Siemens in the form of grant-in-aid, there was no mention of the grant-in-aid in the MoU, Jagan said.

“Again, while the GO talked of 10 per cent of project cost being borne by the government in form of contribution, it was changed as financial assistance in the provisions of the MoUs.”

The grant-in-aid never came from Siemens, but the TDP government hurriedly paid 10 per cent of the project cost, equaling Rs 371 core (which includes taxes) in five tranches in a short period of three months, Jagan said, adding that it was a scam “skillfully scripted, directed and executed by the skilled criminal Chandrababu Naidu.”

The scam broke out even during the TDP rule as the intended taxes were never paid, but the CID probe never moved ahead as it was stalled by Naidu, Jagan added.