AP Skill Development scam, biggest in country: Jagan

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy said AP Skill Development scam was perpetrated by a 'skilled criminal' with Chandrababu Naidu's prowess in it unfolded

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday described the Rs 371 crore Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation scam as the biggest of its kind in the country.

Speaking during a discussion on the issue in the AP Legislative Assembly here, he said it was a scam perpetrated by a ‘skilled criminal’ with Chandrababu Naidu’s prowess in it unfolded. It was similar to foreign lottery and was executed with a perfect plan in which the TDP president misused his office, he alleged.

---

Recalling that the scam came into light within a couple of months of Chandrababu coming to power with clear underhand dealings and no tenders called, Jagan pointed out. “They launched a propaganda that Siemens company would give Rs 3,000 crore. Will any private company give such a sum as grant? There was no DPR and they colluded with a person in Siemens. Chandrababu threw all norms to the wind and the yellow media refused to question him. The ‘adopted son’ (Pawan Kalyan) also remained silent,” he recalled.

The GO then had mentioned that Siemens would give 90 per cent and the state government would bear 10 per cent of the cost of the total project cost of Rs 3,356 crore, Jagan said, disclosing that the government had released Rs 371 crore in five installments within three months. There was no mention of grant-in aid in the MoU and Siemens also conducted an internal inquiry, he said. He called Chandrababu as the prime accused in the scam. Siemens had also categorically said it had no connection with the scam and there were no such schemes in the company, he pointed out.

Alleging that the money had gone into Chandrababu’s pocket, the Chief Minister said that the scam surfaced during the previous government regime with the GST officials launching a probe as service tax was not paid and it was found that fake invoices were created.