Does it not indicate corruption and connivance with private companies?
EAS Sarma asks AP Chief Secretary Jawahar Reddy
Former secretary to government of India, EAS Sarma, IAS,questioned Dr. K. S. Jawahar Reddy, Chief Secretary of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, as to why the government is hiding its orders from public. He asked the CS to restore access to the people to the govt.orders. One such hidden order is about the surreptious decision of the government to make DISCOM to take loan in order was to pay the dues to Hinduja National Power Company Ltd to the tune of Rs.1,235 crore. In order to help private real estate developers, the State Government has recently de-notified a vast Buddhist archaeological site. He appealed in a letter to the CS to restore transparency and let the people know what the government has been doing. Here is the full text of the letter:
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to Govt. of India
To
Dr K S Jawahar Reddy
Chief Secretary
Govt. of AP
Dear Dr Jawahar Reddy,
I have been trying to access Govt. Orders issued by the State government from time to time on several important matters but, to my distress, I find that the present government has literally cut off public access to important government orders, especially those that betray connivance with private companies.
For example, I had written several times to the State govt in the past to come clean on GORt No 131 dated 31-7-2021 (hidden from the public view by marking it as “confidential’) in which the State govt. had illegally de-notified a vast stretch of land with valuable archaeological evidence around the ancient Buddhist archaeological site near Visakhapatnam but there has been no response whatsoever from the government. This clearly shows that the State govt. wishes to benefit real estate developers and has been openly ensuring that the public is kept in the dark. Since the State govt. has not chosen to respond to my letters, the only inference I can draw from this is that there is outright connivance between the State’s officials, also perhaps its political leaders and some private developers.
One such case, a more recent one, of keeping the public in the dark relates to the State government’s surreptitious decision to pay Rs 1,235 Crore to Hinduja National Power Company Ltd (HNPCL) towards “dues payable” and, for that purpose, compel the DISCOMs to seek a loan from financial institutions to be able to make such a payment. Apparently, the State Energy department fears that there will be a public outcry against it, as the State government and the local authorities have granted several undue concessions, one after the other, to HNPCL and the burden of every such concession has fallen on the public at large.
I demand that the State government resumes providing the public 100% access to all Govt. Orders, as required under Section 4 of the RTI Act and, in particular, make a public disclosure of the government order asking the DISCOMs to seek loans from public financial institutions to be able to pay Rs 1234 Crore to HNPCL, failing which some of us may seek judicial intervention.
It is unfortunate that the State, instead of coming to the rescue of the DISCOMs whose finances already stand severely stressed due to the Centre’s and the State’s imprudent policies, should further compound their problems at the cost of the electricity consumers.
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E.A.S.Sarma
14-40-4/1 Gokhale Road
Maharanipeta
Visakhapatnam 530002
Mobile: 91-9866021646
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://eassarma.in
19-2-2023
