Deposit Back Rs 1,100 cr: SC Tells Jagan Govt

In a jolt to the YCP government, the Supreme Court directed it to deposit the Rs 1,100 crore Covid funds diverted to personal department (PD) accounts, into the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) account in the next two weeks.

The apex court, while hearing to a case relating to misappropriation of Covid funds, directed the government that any complaint on not receiving Covid funds should be resolved within four weeks.

A petition on diversion of the Covid funds by the YCP government was filed by TDP leader Palla Srinivasa Rao. He alleged that the disaster management funds were to the families of Covid victims.

It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had admonished the YCP government not to transfer the state disaster management funds to the personal department accounts.

In the petition, the TDP leader quoted a letter written by Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary to his party MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on March 12, 2022, giving details of the alleged diversion of funds flagged by the CAG in the report on state finances for the year ending March 2020.

The finance ministry stated that the AP government received Rs 324.15 crore as the Centre’s share towards SDRF and Rs 570.91 crore under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

The letter also stated that an amount of Rs 1,100 crore was transferred from these funds to the personal deposit account of the commissioner, directorate of agriculture, towards payment of input subsidy to farmers for the kharif crop as a “gratuitous relief”.

Now, it has to be seen how Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his legal team would handle the issue and if the government would deposit back the Covid funds diverted.