V. V. Balakrishna Journalist: April 2014

Monday 28 April 2014

Govt Staff to Get Salaries by May 24

In view of the division of the state on June 2, the state finance department took some key decisions on Tuesday with regard to payments and financial matters to regulate the expenditure.
Principal Secretary (Finance) Ajeya Kallam issued two separate GOs to this effect on Tuesday.
l All cash payments including salaries of May should be completed by May 24.
l All the DDOs concerned have to submit salary bills and other contingent bills by May 20.
l The Heads of Departments are directed to complete the distribution of LOCs by May 15.
l There will be no land acquisition authorisation in May. All the accounts till April should be completed by May 24.
l The last day for authorisation in respect of works payments is May 23.
l The Director of Works Accounts shall close the accounts by May 24.
l All advances of TA, LTC, etc. drawn shall be settled before May 24.
l The claims for advances of TA and LTC shall be stopped during May 2014. However, tour advance for election purpose shall be sanctioned during May and adjusted immediately after completion of election duty.
l Regarding GPF/Festival Advance, etc. the claims shall not be permitted after May 15.
l Bills pertaining to the contingent expenses and other expenses shall not be entertained after May 15.
l No advance, the recovery of which goes beyond May 31, except GPF, shall be sanctioned during April and May 2014.
l The pension authorisations received from Accountant General/State Audit shall be cleared.

Govt Asks RBI for Ways and Means Advances

The State government is in touch with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for securing ‘Ways and Means Advances’ for both Telangana and Residuary Andhra Pradesh states right from the day one of the formation of the two states.
This is because the new states should not face any cash crunch for normal administrative works.
‘’The Ways and Means Advances issue is under the consideration of the RBI,” said sources in the finance department. However it was for the new states to decide whether to utilise the ‘Ways and Means Advances’ or not, they added.
‘’The state never went for ‘Ways and Means Advances’ for the last several years. But, in case the new states want to go for a loan from the RBI, they can do so,” the sources said.
The united state is eligible to take `3,000 crore as ‘Ways and Means Advances’. The new state governments will be eligible to get approximately Rs 1,500 crore each under the fund. The amount should be repaid to the RBI within 15 days or else the RBI would charge a nominal interest rate on the loan portion.
Sources in the finance department said that Telangana would be a surplus state, whereas the residuary Andhra Pradesh would be a deficit state.
‘’All the departments have divided the vote-an-account budget. Ninety per cent work is over. The remaining 10 per cent work will be completed within a week. The exact surplus of Telangana and the exact deficit of AP will be known in the next 10 days time,’’ an official said.
If the deficit of AP was around Rs 8,000 crore, then the surplus of Telangana would be around `8,000 cr, he explained.
Meanwhile, around 2,000 state government employees will be retiring on May 31. Normally, the terminal benefits will be cleared within 10 days after the retirement. As the employees will face problems after the division of the state, the government has decided to settle the accounts of employees retiring on May 31 on the retirement day itself.
Meanwhile, an agreement between the officials of the RBI and the governor will be signed soon to open a bank account for the Telangana state. The T-state government account will be opened in the SBH, whereas the residuary AP’s account will continue in the SBI.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

95 Division Tasks to be Finished by Apr 30

“These tasks are common to all Departments and therefore, shall be implemented diligently. The Departments are requested to furnish weekly performance reports to the General Administration (SR) Department before 1 pm on Monday every week without fail. All the concerned are requested to complete all tasks in all aspects well ahead of the deadline of April 30,” the Chief Secretary said in the circular memo.
Most of the key tasks were already indicated to the departments and they were under the process of completing the work. Some key tasks given to the departments which should be in place from June 2, the Appointed Day, are as follows:
MAPS: Maps of the new States with Administrative units, indicating key institutions and existing activities of the departments.
Map of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, indicating the major programmes, institutions and projects proposed for the future.
VEHICLES: Updated register of government vehicles certified by Nodal officer/heads of departments/secretary and all related documents of registration, warranty, servicing etc, handed over to both governments ahead of June 2.
IT: Partitioning of databases and applications should be completed. Trial runs be completed and system is kept ready for operation by both the States.
BUDGET: Budget proposals for the States of AP and Telangana should be prepared based on the vote-on-account budget for 2014-15. Approval obtained from the Governor for the budget of both the states by Finance Department and it should be communicated to all departments. Budget proposals for the regular budget that would be introduced after the Appointed Day should be prepared for both the states taking into consideration outstanding commitments and ongoing obligations.
Diligent review of every budget line conducted in the light of departmental reorganisation and appropriate proposals submitted to the Finance Department for deletion or amendment to the budget lines of regular budget proposals.
Proposals for the regular budget of both the States should be submitted to the Finance Department for transmission to the respective States ahead of June 2.

Too Many Panels Slowing Down AP Division Work

Are too many committees spoiling the broth?

This was the tickling question before the senior officers who were busy with the state’s reorganisation work for almost 45 days. Too many committees were forcing the secretaries to spend most of their time in attending meetings. The series of meetings and too many committees so far did not produce the desired results.
“We have too many committees for the division work. No state constituted such a huge number of committees for bifurcation of the state,” a senior official admitted.
For example, when Madhya Pradesh was divided in 2000 and a new state of Chhattisgarh was created, the entire division work was completed by a committee of just three-officers. “The three-officer committee interacted with the departments concerned and issued necessary directions to carve out Chhattisgarh from MP,” an officer explained.
But, in Andhra Pradesh, chief secretary PK Mohanty constituted around 20 committees and issued guidelines to all the departments to complete the division work in their respective departments.
The first meeting on Reorganisation was conducted by the chief secretary in the first week of March and it was almost more than 45 days the officials were busy with the division work.
Now, some of the senior officials observed that there were too many committees and too many meetings, which was actually slowing down the pace of work.
Though, the officials extended the deadline almost thrice for all the departments to furnish the information about the state-cadre employees’ list, the information received so far was just 70 per cent. ‘‘The HoDs and secretaries of all the departments are attending series of meetings. One committee invited me to discuss about the measures taken for reforms and reconstruction process. I have attended another meeting of another committee. Such is the case with all the officials. Perhaps, for this reason the departments could not furnish the information,” a senior officer in the Secretariat said.
Besides, marathon meetings all the day in the Secretariat, the officials are now touring to other states study the division work.
Principal secretary (Revenue) SP Singh is visiting Patna on April 24 and Raipur on April 29 to interact with the officials of the two states with regard to resource mobilisation and apportionment.
By the time, Singh returns with the required information, he will have only one day left to complete the division work. The deadline set by the shief secretary was April 30.
But, some officials are finding a excuse for the slow progress of the work. “We cannot take any decisions now. There is no elected government. Without the involvement of political leadership how can we go head on the work,” an officer opined.
Though, the reforms and restructuring sub-committee held several meetings it could not take any concrete decision on the merger of winding up of some departments or corporations. “Only the elected government has to take a final decision,’’ an officer admitted.
CR Kamalanathan committee too would start its work of allocating state-cadre employees only after June 2. But, the AIS officers would be in place for both the states by May 28.
“We want to see that the administration in both the states run as usual and the students, traders or any common man should not be affected. “It will take at least three to six months’ time for both the states to streamline the administration,” another officer felt.
IAS Officers Told to Submit Info by April 23
Hyderabad: As part of the allocation of IAS officers to successor states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, chief secretary PK Mohanty on Saturday wanted the IAS officers to furnish their information in a prescribed format by April 23, without fail. The chief secretary issued a memo to this effect on Saturday as part of the state reorganisation work. All the State Civil Services (SCS) and non-SCS officers of the Indian Administrative Service of AP are requested to furnish the information in the prescribed proforma to the additional secretary (GAD) by April 23. The information required was name of the officer and year of allotment, place of birth with district, details of districts wherein the officer studied from fourth class to tenth class, place and district from where officer passed matriculation or equivalent examination. Whether he/she belongs to SC, ST, BC or UR(OC).

Search On for Icons and Emblem of the New Telangana State

The Telangana State will get its separate icons and emblem after the Appointed Day. This includes the new emblem for the State government, new song and others. Officials are busy finalising the emblem for the State to run the official business from June 2.

A new State song will also be finalised for the new State. It may be recalled here that there were a lot of objections from T-agitators about the present State song “Maa Telugu Talliki...”. Some T-organisations even promoted “Jaya Jayahe Telangana Janani...” as T State’s new song.

Whether the first government of Telangana would adopt this song or select any other song depends on which party comes to power. All the icons would be finalised by the political leadership, sources said. The united Andhra Pradesh’s State bird is Palapitta (Indian roller), State animal is Blackbuck and the tree is Neem. These icons may be continued for the residuary Andhra Pradesh. But, the Telangana State, if it is interested, may search for a new bird, animal and tree.

“The Indian roller’s population is spread both in Andhra and Telangana. The population of Blackbuck is high in East Godavari. Blackbucks are also there in Adilabad and Karimnagar districts. Neem trees are seen more in Telangana than Andhra Pradesh,” a senior official of the Forest Department said. He, however, hastened to add that if Telangana wanted a separate identity it may change the State bird, animal and tree. It may be mentioned here that all the States created, including the three formed recently, adopted a new bird, animal and tree to get a separate identity.

The old icons were continued for the original State and the new States had identified new icons. When Uttarakhand was carved out of UP, the latter continued Swamp Deer as its animal, Sarus Crane as its bird and Ashok as its tree, But, Uttarakhand adopted Musk Deer as its animal, Himalayan Monal as its bird and Burans as tree. However, Uttarakhand continued Brahm Kamal as the State flower, which was also the State flower for UP.

It’s pertinent to note that the Nagarjuna Sagar Project Tiger is spread in Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar districts of Telangana, and Kurnool, Prakasm and Guntur districts in Seemandhra.

Friday 18 April 2014

Provisional Allocation of Staff to Be on Nativity Basis

The actual work on allocation of state-cadre employees to Seemandhra and Telangana states by the State Advisory Committee headed by CR Kamalanathan will begin only only after the Appointed Day, ie June 2.
Till then, state government officials, in consultation with the central government, will make only provisional allocation of employees. Telangana employees need not be apprehensive about Seemandhra employees occupying key posts in Telangana since the provisional allocation of employees will be based on their birth place.
Official sources say that there is no elected government in the state and the final allocation will be made after the appointed day when the elected governments will be in place in two states. A team of officials recently visited Madhya Pradesh to know how the state allocated the employees between two successor states _ Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh _ both headed by Congress chief ministers.
“There was no problem in the allocation and all state government employees were happy with the allocations. The AIS officers, however, had some complaints,” a member of the team says.
Around 1.68 lakh employees were allocated between Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. But there were only 800 complaints.
In Madhya Pradesh, the notification for a new state was issued six months ahead of the appointed day. Here, in AP, there is hardly three months’ time. So, officials wanted some more time and will wait till new governments are formed in AP and Telangana.
Meanwhile, state government officials have decided to visit Chhattisgarh on April 21 to study the allocation in the newly created state. The officials, who visited Bhopal, will meet Chhattisgarh chief secretary Vivek, additional CS (finance) DS Misra and agriculture official Nath on April 21 and also meet another official Sirohi in Delhi. Sirohi was involved in employee allocation in Madhya Pradesh.

AP, T Govts to Reimburse Fees of Respective Students

From the next academic year onwards, the fee of around 39,000 Seemandhra students studying in Telangana will be reimbursed by Andhra Pradesh government and around 18,000 Telangana students studying in Andhra Pradesh will also be reimbursed by the Telangana government.
For this, the state government is preparing modules and making administrative arrangements for reimbursing the fee of students in a smooth manner.
Most of the Seemandhra students studying in Telangana are pursuing professional courses, while Telangana students are studying Intermediate and degree courses in Seemandhra districts.
The social welfare department is making arrangements for students studying outside their state from June 2. The department will reimburse the fee and give scholarships to around 27 lakh students by spending around Rs 5,000 crore annually on this.
Of the 27 lakh students, around 57,000 students were studying in places other than their region. The nativity of these students will be determined by where they obtained caste certificate for SC and ST students and income certificate for OBC students.
Of the 39,000 students of Seemandhra studying in Telangana, the AP government has to reimburse Rs 126 crore for 2014-15 academic year. The Telangana government has to reimburse around Rs 34 crore for 2014-15 for its students studying in AP. Of the 39,000 Seemandhra students studying in Telangana, 23,500 are pursing professional courses. Around 6,300 Intermediate and 6,600 degree colleges.
Of the 18,000 Telangana students studying in Seemandhra, 3,256 are in professional colleges, 7,500 Intermediate and 4,200 are in degree colleges.
‘’Around 60 students of Seemandhra studying Telangana are in professional colleges and only 18 per cent Telangana students are in professional colleges in Seemandhra,” an official of the social welfare department told Express.
For the last quarter of 2013-14, Rs 1,376 crore fee reimbursement amount was pending for Seemandhra and Rs 1,360 crore for Telangana region. The respective state governments have to reimburse the amounts in the next academic year, official sources said.

AP Reorganisation Act Cannot be Amended, Energy Dept Tells APERC

The energy department is likely to inform the APERC that the issues raised by the Regulatory Commission would be resolved by the chief ministers of Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh governments.
It may be recalled that the APERC secretary dashed off a letter to principal secretary (Energy) on Tuesday raising six key issues pertaining to power sector and wanted the government to see that the AP Reorganisation Act was amended for better clarity in bifurcating the Energy department. The APERC also sought some clarifications on implementation of the Act.
The ‘Advisory’ of the APERC, which is already placed on its website on Tuesday itself, has not yet reached to the energy department. ‘’We are yet to receive the advisory,’’ SK Joshi also holding additional charge as principal secretary (Energy) told Express. The principal secretary (Energy) post was vacant after the retirement of M Sahoo.
However, the sources in the energy department said that ‘’the amendment of Reorganisation Act as advised by the APERC is not possible. I am sure that the Act will not be amended,” a senior official said.
Sources said that the energy department would not take any decision on the ‘Advisory’ of the APERC and it will be kept in cold storage for the time being. So, that the new governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will consult and resolve the issues.
For example, the APERC in its advisory on purchase of excess power stated that a surplus state debilitate first right of refusal for the purchase of power by deficit state by quoting an unreasonable price.
“If any state is aggrieved it can approach its neighbouring state or may take up the issue with the Central government. The Reorganisation Act could not be amended for this,” sources said

APERC Wants AP Reorganisation Act Amended

Express News Service
Hyderabad, April 15:

The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) wanted the State government to see that some clarifications and amendments were needed for the AP Reorganisation Act-2014 for reorganising the power sector in the state. The ERC secretary dashed off a letter to the principal secretary Energy on Tuesday to this effect.
The ERC also found fault with the government for not consulting the Commission when the T-Bill was in the draft stage.
The ERC in its "advisory" to the government on Tuesday suggested six points to be taken into consideration by the government.
"The advisory is to point out problems in the present schema of the Act and highlights the need for suitable clarifications/amendments in the Act if the power sector is to be seamlessly partitioned between AP and Telangana. The Commission was not consulted by the government when the T-Bill was in the draft stage. Accordingly, and in compliance with its obligation the ERC issues advisory to the State government in the matter of reorganisation and restructuring of the electricity industry in the state", ERC said.
Allocation of power to Discoms: The Act stated that the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with respective Discoms will continue. But, the ERC stated that the None of the PPAs, signed by generators with Discoms, allocate power to individual Discoms. The PPAs have been signed between Genco and all Discoms collectively. The power allocated to each Discom is nowhere mentioned in the respective PPA. The PPA only mentioned the total power to be delivered by Genco to all the Discoms collectively. Thus, the article 2 of section C in the Act as it stands now is imprecise and cannot attain the objective it seeks to achieve.

NEW ERC: The Electricity Regulatory Commission for the existing state of AP shall on the appointed day, be the Electricity Regulatory Commission for the residuary AP and a new Commission shall be created for Telangana state. Till the Telangana ERC is formed, the ERC for the residuary AP shall function as a joint regulatory commission for both the States.

CGS POWER: The ERC advised the State government that the Central Generation Stations power could be allocated by Ministry of power as per their existing norms. The Reorganisation Act does not contains provisions relating to restructuring and reorganisation, the provisions in the Act appear defuse and inadequate, the ERC said.

PURCHASE OF EXCESS POWER: On the purchase of excess power, the Reorganisation Act stated that for a period of then years, the successor state that has a deficit of electricity shall have the first right of refusal for the purchase of power from the other successor state. However, the ERC stated that this clause seeks to protect the interests of the deficit state facing a power shortage. However, this objective can not be effectively achieved since the price at which this has to be offered has not been mentioned here. Thus it is possible for a surplus state debilitate this right by making an offer to the deficit state at an unreasonable price, the ERC noted. The ERC suggested the government to revise the clause 7 in the AP Reorganisation Act to incorporate the maximum price at which this power must be offered by the selling surplus state to the purchasing deficit state.
HYDRO PLANTS: On the treatment of ownership of Hydro power projects, the Reorganisation Act stated that the hydro projects managed by APGENCO will be managed by the respective River Management Boards. ERC pointed out that the "authority" which manages the hydro projects was not defined in the Act and it should be defined and the percentage of the power allocated to the two states or four Discoms needs to be specified, the ERC stated.

ends

AIS Officers Seek Alternatives on Allocation

The All India Service (AIS) officers wanted the Partyusha Sinha Committee to give them options to choose either Telangana or Seemandhra.
Partyusha Sinha Committee held a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday and the representatives of IAS, IPS and IFS Associations attended the meeting. They requested the Sinha committee to give them options.
The proposal was that insiders would be allocated to Andhra and Telangana and the officers from outside and conferred officers would be allocated by the Centre. But, the officers wanted options to all insiders, outsiders and promotees. “Our association requested for options. But, the Sinha Committee will not give us options,” an officer said.
Sources said that the Partyusha Sinha Committee may finalise the guidelines in this week on how to apportion AIS officers. “We do not know, whether Partyusha Sinha adopt the guidelines prepared for the allocation of AIS officers in three other States or come out with fresh guidelines,” an officer said.
SAMUEL TO CONTINUE: Retired IAS officer M Samuel will continue as an expert consultant for the sectoral committee constituted for the allocation of around 600 All India Service (AIS) officers between Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh. Orders to this effect were issued on Tuesday. It may be recalled that Samuel was appointed as chairman of the sectoral committee to allocate AIS officers between Telangana and residuary AP as part of the division of the state. However, Samuel was retired from service on March 31.
But, the State government on Tuesday decided to continue Samuel as an expert consultant and retain in the sectoral committee, which will make suggestions for consideration of Advisory Committee headed Partyusha Sinha to apportion AIS officers. Now, Samuel will continue as the chairman of the sectoral committee till May 30.

H-South Block in Secretariat to be Vacated by May 16

The H South Block in the Secretariat will be vacated by May 16, when the elections to the State Assembly will be completed. It will then house the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) of the residuary Andhra Pradesh state. The officials concerned issued notices to all the offices currently located in the H South block - the office of the Chief Electoral Officer and the Central Library -- to vacate the place by May 16 and move into K Block. The election schedule has been announced and the Chief Electoral Officer will be busy with the election- related work till May 16. Hence, he has been given time till then to vacate the H South Block and move into the K Block along with the Central Library.
Already some books of the Central Library have been shifted to the K Block and the rest will be shifted soon. In the K Block, the Central Library will be located in the chambers used by former minister P Sunitha Laxma Reddy.

Sunday 13 April 2014

Deadline Extended for Data on State-cadre

Hyderabad: Even as the deadline for furnishing the data of state-cadre employees ended on Saturday, heads of various departments (HoDs) failed to meet the deadline again. Now, finance department officials have set another deadline of April 19.
It may be recalled that in a recent memo, the Finance Department requested the HoDs to follow the instructions scrupulously and furnish the information by April 12. But several big departments have failed to furnish the information of employees. The departments have to prepare 'Department-Tree' giving structure and category of employees.
In the recent memo, the finance department warned that if the nodal officers failed to furnish the information, their pay and allowances would be withheld for the month of April. "Now, we have to stop the pay and allowances of secretaries of respective departments," an officer quipped.

ends

VAT: T, AP Allotted Separate TINs

Express News Service

Hyderabad: Telangana and the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh have got two separate VAT TIN numbers for commercial taxes purpose. The Telangana TIN number is 36 and AP's is 37.
The Trade Identification Number (TIN) of the combined Andhra Pradesh is 38 which is now cancelled. The new TIN numbers will come into effect on June 2 and there will be no problem in paying taxes right from day one of the formation of Telangana.
After Telangana is formed, the state government will identify a lead bank for the new state. Now, the lead bank for the combined state is Andhra Bank which will continue to be the lead bank for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the process of opening two separate consolidated funds for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is in progress with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Finance department officials are making all arrangements to make a demonstration of various financial activities in the two separate states by the end of this month. The officers will be allocated dummy code numbers and they will run a trial on how the software is working. This is to see that there will be no problem after June 2.
The Pratyusha Sinha Committee, which will allocate All India Service officers between AP and Telangana, will meet in Delhi on April 15. The IAS officers associations are going to Delhi to represent their cases to the committee.

Tentative Formula: Only T-born Staff for T State

Express News Service - HYDERABAD

Published: 13th April 2014 09:00 AM

Last Updated: 13th April 2014 09:00 AM

The state advisory committee will make only provisional allocation of state-cadre employees between Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh. The headache of final allocation and taking options from employees will be passed on to the chief ministers of the two new states.
It means that the committee headed by CR Kamalanathan will allocate Telangana-born employees to Telangana state and Seemandhra-born employees to Andhra Pradesh.
Of the 76,000 divisible posts of the state-cadre, 20,000 are vacant. The individual employees to be allocated number 56,000. Of the divisible pool of employees, 44 per cent belong to Telangana and 56 per cent to Seemandhra.
It may be recalled that there were differences of opinion at the committee meeting held here on Friday. The officials are keen that the Telangana government should run from June 2, the Appointed Day.
If the provisional allocation is made as per the birth place of employees, Telangana will face a problem of shortage of officers at senior level like additional director and additional secretary.
The residuary Andhra Pradesh will have too many officers.
This is because Telangana employees were more in levels from section officer down to attender. Seemandhras are more in senior positions.
So, there will be initial hiccups in administration in both the states.
However, the state advisory committee will take a decision to pass on the headache to the chief ministers of two states to allocate the staff. “If there is shortage of officers in Telangana, the T-government may promote its employees,” an officer said.
The reason to take options after June 2 was that Kamalanathan Committee is yet to finalise the guidelines. Once it finalises the guidelines, then they have to be vetted by DoPT joint secretary Archana Varma and gone through by her bosses. Later, the guidelines should be sent to Prime Minister’s Office for PM’s nod. It will take a lot of time.
In respect of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, the allocation was done in two months’ time after taking the options after the Appointed Day. But, the situation in AP is different. Officials have to take into consideration the presidential order, zonal, local, non-local and other issues.
“TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao has announced that Seemandhra employees who got jobs in Telangana in open category too will be sent back to AP. We are also considering such issues,” an officer told Express on Saturday. The Telangana movement was fuelled by employees for accelerated promotions, then students participated in it hoping to get more jobs in government, another officer recalled.
So, in all probability, the state advisory committee will allocate the Telangana staff to Telangana and Seemandhra staff to Seemandhra, to see that the administration in both the states will run from June 2. Giving options to employees and transfer of employees to one state to other, if any, will be decided by the chief ministers both the states with mutual consent, the sources said. If there is any problem, then the Centre may intervene and prevail upon two states.
CR Kamalanathan, along with principal secretary (finance) PV Ramesh, will visit Bhopal on April 15 to study how the staff were allocated between the successor states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. So, finalising guidelines will take some more time.
Deadline Extended for Data on cadre
Hyderabad: Even as the deadline for furnishing the data of state-cadre employees ended on Saturday, heads of various departments (HoDs) failed to meet the deadline again. Now, finance department officials have set another deadline of April 19. It may be recalled that in a recent memo, the Finance Department requested the HoDs to follow the instructions scrupulously and furnish the information by April 12. But several big departments have failed to furnish the information of employees. The departments have to prepare ‘Department-Tree’ giving structure and category of employees. In the recent memo, the finance department warned that if the nodal officers failed to furnish the information, their pay and allowances would be withheld for the month of April. “Now, we have to stop the pay and allowances of secretaries of respective departments,” an officer quipped.

Saturday 12 April 2014

Panel Split on Staff Allocation Norms

Differences of opinion have cropped at the state advisory committee meeting in finalising the guidelines on allocation of state-cadre employees between Telangana and Seemandhra states.
The meeting, chaired by committee chairman CR Kamalanathan, was held at the Secretariat on Friday and was attended by joint secretary in the department of personnel & training Archana Varma, chief secretary PK Mohanty and three other members.
A majority of the members proposed allocation of Telangana employees to Telangana and Seemandhra employees to AP state on provisional basis, basing on their places of birth. The options from employees could be taken after the Appointed Day.
Of the 56,000-odd state-cadre employees, around 30,000 belong to Telangana and 26,000 to Seemandhra.
With the representations by various Telangana employee unions to the chief secretary recently that no Seemandhra employee should work in the Telangana secretariat, a majority members of the advisory committee felt that employees born in Telangana should be allocated to Telangana and those born in Seemandhra to AP provisionally. The option facility should be given to employees only after the Appointed Day. The members who supported this idea referred to provisions 76 (1) and (2) of the AP Reorganisation Act.
However, some members argued in support of Seemandhra and opposed the allocation on the basis of birth place. They felt that if the options were given after the Appointed Day, there would be two chief ministers and the employees may face problems from moving one state to other state.
Though it was its fourth meeting, the committee could not take any decision. “There is no progress at this meeting,” said an officer.
“We want to make a provisional allocation of employees. The final allocation can take place after the Appointed Day,” an officer who considered the representations from Telangana employees argued at the meeting.

Distribution of Liabilities a Tough Task Now

Express News Service - HYDERABAD

Published: 12th April 2014 09:13 AM

Last Updated: 12th April 2014 09:13 AM

Officials are wracking their brains on how to distribute the liabilities between Telangana and Seemandhra states. The borrowings taken for specific projects in the combined state can be apportioned between the two states as per their location.
The state government which has borrowed and allocated money to specific projects will not have any problem. But if the loan amount was not indicated in the budget for a specific project, then it should be apportioned on the basis of population. This will lead several problems in future, sources in the finance department say.
For example, the Central Power Distribution Company Limited (CPDCL) borrowed money to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore by mortgaging the assets of EPDCL. The loan amount was used by CPDCL to supply power to the citizens of Hyderabad. But the loan was shown in the EPDCL books and its assets were mortgaged. The CPDCL may claim that there was no loan against it and EPDCL may contend that the loan was used for CPDCL. Such problems may arise on apportioning liabilities, sources explain.
In case of external borrowings from JICA, World Bank and others, they were mentioned specifically for a particular project. There would be no problem in apportioning such loans. But, the state government borrowed money and sanctioned money under pressure from political leadership for any project, then the problem will arise.
Officials have decided to make separate cells for Telangana and AP in corporations and other institutions which will serve both the states even after Appointed Day. The power to divide corporations and companies is vested with the central government. Demerger has to take place with the approval of the ministry of corporate affairs. Officials sought the permission of the central government to give the power to state government to divide these corporations and companies as a special case.

G-Block to be Saved as Heritage Building

The G-Block in the Secretariat will be preserved and protected as a heritage structure. The ten-year-long fight by Forum For A Better Hyderabad for preserving the century-old building yielded positive results on Friday.
A Rajasthan team consisting of architects, which visited the block on Friday, said the building could be protected with some repairs.
Officials thought of pulling down the dilapidated structure for security of the Seemandhra chief minister who is likely to be allocated the H-South Block which stands opposite it. But governor’s adviser Salauddin Ahmed, who inspected the building last week, invited architectural experts from Rajasthan who are well-versed in preserving ‘lime, mortar and stone structures’. The use of lime, mortar and stone in construction is not in vogue in the state but in Rajasthan. The G-Block was built using this technology by the Nizam government.
The Rajasthan team informed the governor’s adviser that the building had been neglected and was in need of maintenance. Negligence led to growth of huge trees on the premises. It informed the Ahemd that Rs 1 crore would be needed to restore the building and preserve it as a heritage structure. Ahmed told the team that the money would be released after the team gave its final report.
Forum For A Better Hyderabad president M Vedakumar called on Ahmed on Friday. “The governor’s adviser assured that the G Block would be protected,” he told Express.
Sridhar Deshpande of Telangana History Society and Sangisetti Srinivas of Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika too called on Ahmed and requested him to bring back all the artefacts of Telangana which were shifted to Seemandhra, especially to Amaravati, during Kalachakra.

Guv Advisers Get Official Residences

Governor ESL Narasimhan’s advisers were allotted official residences in the city on Wednesday.
Minister’s Quarter No.4 on Road No.12 in Banjara Hills has been allotted to AN Roy and Quarter No 5 to Salauddin Ahmed.
In view of the President’s rule in the state, the chief secretary issued another order saying that cases, hitherto circulated to the ministers concerned, will hereafter be circulated to the governor’s advisers in accordance with the allocation of their subjects.
Cases requiring orders of the council of ministers shall be submitted to the two advisers as well as the governor.
The chief secretary will attend such meetings.
The procedure for dealing with proposals for legislation shall be dealt with in accordance with the directions of the ministry of home affairs.

AP and T CMs to be close neighbours

Express News Service
Hyderabad, April 9:
Residuary Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's residence will be quite opposite to Telangana Chief Minister's residence.
The State government officials who are allocating buildings to Andhra and Telangana government, have zeroed in on Greenlands guest house. The Greenlands guest house will be allocated to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister to use it as official residence.
The present camp office in Begumpet, constructed during YS Rajasekhara Reddy regime, will be used for the residence of Telangana Chief Minister.
Exactly opposite to the present Chief Minister's camp office, the Greenlands guest is there.
Though, the officials examined Manjeera, Lakeview and other guest houses in the city, they thought that they were not suitable, in security aspect, to use as camp offices for the Andhra Pradesh Cheif Minister. Finally, the officials decided to allocate Greenlands guest house to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.
This is purely a tentative decision. The the first Cheif Minister of Andhra Pradesh may or may not accept Green Lands as his camp office. If the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has a residence in Hyderabad, he may also prefer to work from his home.
But, as a duty, the officials identified the Greenlands guest house for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.
Hyderabad will be common capital for a maximum of ten years and the residuary Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister too will run the administration of AP from Hyderabad.
Officials thought that when the camp offices of both the Chief Ministers are near, it is easy to provide security.

ends

File Digitisation Work Given to 10 Firms

The state government has entrusted the work of digitisation of files for division process to ten agencies. Chief secretary PK Mohanty issued orders to this effect on Wednesday.
Each agency has been allotted certain departments for digitising the files.
The work will be completed before the Appointed Day, June 2.
A committee constituted by the chief secretary examined the infrastructure capability of all the vendors such as availability of scanners, desktops and manpower, and decided to allot the Secretariat departments and heads of departments to entrust the digitisation work to small and medium enterprises.
The committee decided that the budget required for the scanning and digitisation process shall be placed at the disposal of the department of information technology, electronics and communications by the department of finance.
The ITC department will function as a nodal agency for facilitating digitisation of files. It will enter into an agreement with all the empanelled vendors for the work, the orders issued on Wednesday said.
The department will open a help desk for answering departmental queries during data scanning and uploading.
A PMU will be established for coordination of the entire work till its completion.
ADF scanning will be used for documents in good condition and flat-bed scanning for documents which are old and may get damaged if ADF is used.
For documents which are very old and fragile, photographic scanning will be adopted.
After digitisation all the files will be uploaded to the state data centre.

Depts Given 4 Days to Give Info on Staff

Express News Service

Several departments failed to meet the deadline in furnishing information about employees in their respective departments to allocate the staff between Telangana and the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.
Several departments failed to meet the deadline in furnishing information about employees in their respective departments to allocate the staff between Telangana and the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.
The original deadline to furnish the information on staff was March 31. It was extended up to April 4. However, the finance department issued a fresh circular on Tuesday giving another deadline of April 12.
The state government issued orders to all the departments of Secretariat and the heads of departments to furnish unit-wise information relating to all sanctioned posts of district, zonal, multi-zonal and state cadres and the details of employees in the state and multi-zonal cadres before March 31.
As this information is urgently required in connection with the bifurcation of the state, instructions were issued to the HoDs to review the progress regularly and see that the information is furnished without any delay and they were also instructed to nominate a senior officer as the nodal officer exclusively for this purpose.
“However, it has been observed that despite instructions highlighting the critical nature of the work, some HoDs have not furnished the required data online even a week after the expiry of the deadline, which has caused a major setback to the work relating to apportionment of posts between the two successor states, which is a critical pre-requisite for allocation of employees,” a memo issued on Tuesday said.
“Since the work relating to State division has to be completed by April 30, as per the latest instructions of the government, all heads of secretariat departments, heads of departments, corporations, societies, funds, programmes, institutions, etc., should adhere to the time schedule prescribed and furnish the information on time,” the finance department told the officers concerned in the memo.

Tuesday 8 April 2014

No New Building for AP Council

No new building will be constructed for conducting the Legislative Council meetings of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. Instead, the legislative department will provide furniture in Jubilee Hall for holding meetings of the Council.
Immediately after the appointed day, the new governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will be in place. By that time, required furniture like seating arrangements for MLCs and other furniture will be provided in Jubilee Hall.
Governor ESL Narasimhan, who visited the Assembly and Secretariat buildings on Sunday, directed roads and buildings department officials to consult with the Legislative Council chairman and Assembly speaker on the matter. The governor also visited the Secretariat and made an on-the-spot assessment on distribution of buildings for both the states.
He was accompanied by his adviser AN Roy, chief secretary PK Mohanty, principal secretary (R&B) Busi Sam Bob, special chief secretary (transport) Lakshmi Parthasarathy and other officials.
Sam Bab explained to the governor that there were two options before them to allocate the ten blocks in the Secretariat. One option is to allocate A,B,C and D blocks to one state and the rest of the blocks to the other state. Another option is to allocate H-South, H-North, D and C blocks to one state and the rest of the blocks to the other state. “We have two options _ one is to divide the buildings in the Secretariat vertically and the other to divide them horizontally,” Sam Bob told Narasimhan.
The governor also examined the separate exit and entry points for the two chief ministers to function form the existing Secretariat. However, he did not take any decision on Sunday. “The governor will take a final call after studying the matter once again,” official sources said.
FIRST VISIT: It was governor’s first visit to the Secretariat. Normally, governors do not go to the Secretariat. But, as the state is under President’s rule and the State Reorganisation Act entrusted the ‘management and allocation of government buildings in the common capital area’ to the governor, Narasimhan visited the Secretariat. Governor spent almost one hour and went round the Secretariat. He also visited the H-South Block where the new Andhra Pradesh chief minister will be provided accommodation.

No Suitable Building Available for AP Council

Officials are looking for a building for conducting meetings of the Legislative Council of residuary Andhra Pradesh. The existing Assembly buildings, old and new, could be used by Telangana and AP Assemblies. For the Council, there is only one building which can be used for Telanagana. As such, there is no suitable building for the residuary AP to conduct Council meetings.
Though there is a proposal to construct a building for the AP Legislative Council, a final decision is yet to be taken. It is argued that Hyderabad will be the common capital for a maximum period of ten years and there is no need for constructing a new building for AP Legislative Council in Hyderabad. The officials are finding an alternative building for AP Council.
Governor’s ddviser AN Roy on Sunday inspected the buildings on the Secretariat and Assembly premises for distribution of assets between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Roy, along with roads and buildings and transport department officials Lakshmi Parthasarathy, Busi Sam Bob and additional DG (Intelligence) M Mahender Reddy, went round the Assembly and Secretariat on Saturday to make an on-the-spot assessment.
Saturday being a holiday, Roy went round the Secretariat and examined various proposals to erect a new entry gate for Telangana chief minister and allocation of buildings in the Secretariat for both AP and Telangana.
As per the proposals, A,B,C, D and H-North blocks will be allocated to Telangana, and H-South, K, L, J and G to AP. Roy also inspected the dilapidated G-Block.

Hitch over Number of Heads of Depts

The CR Kamalanathan Committee is likely to seek clarification from the Centre whether to take the heads of departments notified by the presidential order before 2007 or take all those created later for allocation of state-cadre employees.
There were 56 heads of departments (HoDs) in the presidential order. Some more have been created and 109 posts upgraded as HoDs since 2007, taking the total number of HoDs to 227.
While distributing the HoDs, if all of them are taken into consideration, Seemandhra employees are likely to get prime posts in the new Telangana state.
Its is alleged that some posts were upgraded as HoDs only to accommodate non-local Andhras in Telangana, a violation of the presidential order.
Before finalising the guidelines for allocation of around 56,000 state-cadre employees, the Kamalanathan Committee is going to seek a clarification on the status of HoDs. “The central government has to notify the HoDs,” an officer dealing with allocation of employees told Express.
The original HoDs notified in the presidential order have cadre management authority. For example, the post of DGP was a cadre management authority. But several other HoDs, upgraded after 2007, will not have cadre management authority. For example, the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissioner posts have been upgraded as HoDs, though only for financial management. The chiefs of SPF, APSP, Intelligence and others are not HoDs as far as the Centre is concerned. Once the Centre notifies the HoDs, the Kamalanathan Committee will finalise the modalities for allocation of employees, sources said. These modalities are to be approved by the prime minister. “Once guidelines are ready, the allocation will not take much time,” an officer said.
The sources also point out that the HoDs upgraded for release of funds or financial management would be no more relevant. Because the finance department has prepared a Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS). Once the CFMS is in place, there is no need for more number of HoDs for financial management in their respective departments. The money will go online directly to the officer concerned.
The CFMS is likely to be introduced after Assembly polls on a pilot basis in Nalognda, Karimnagar, Ranga Reddy, Guntur and Chittoor districts.
AP Secretariat Association secretary A Padma Chary says that the Centre has to take only those HoDs as notified in the Presidential order.

Sunday 6 April 2014

Quantum of Central Aid to AP to be Known after June 2

Central government officials have assured state chief secretary PK Mohanty that all the issues mentioned in the AP State Reorganisation Act will be taken up with respective ministries and see that the ministries will take decisions for implementation of the same by June 2, the appointed day.
Mohanty was in Delhi on Friday to discuss the state’s division work with cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth. “I have discussed all the issues mentioned in the Act with the cabinet secretary. He will take up the matter with respective ministries,” Mohanty told Express over phone from Delhi.
For example, the special development package for backward areas of AP, the exact amount of normal central assistance and other assistance consequent to the grant of special category status can only be quantified after June 2, when the resource position of the state will be known.
“The cabinet secretary assured that he would take up the matter with the Planning Commission soon,” Mohanty said.
The special category status for 13 districts of AP for a period of five years ill be given on the Uttarakhand model, for which endorsement of the National Development Council (NDC) will be obtained.
The provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act such as urban development and railways were discussed at the meeting.
On formation of a new railway zone for Seemandhra, the railways said that the proposal was not justified. The railways also said that the rail coach factory in Telangana was not needed as the existing and planned capacities were sufficient for future needs.
The chief secretary raised these issues and requested the cabinet secretary to see that the ministries concerned implemented the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act.
Mohanty also called on Pratyush Sinha, who is heading the committee to allocate All-India Service (AIS) officers to AP and Telangana. It is learnt that Sinha informed Mohanty that the committee would not come to Hyderabad and there would be no option to AIS officers to select either T or AP.
Any representation by the AIS officers could be sent to Delhi after the Sinha committee formulated the guidelines.

Rajasthan Experts to Study G-Block Structure

V V Balakrishna - HYDERABAD

Published: 05th April 2014 09:54 AM

Last Updated: 05th April 2014 09:54 AM

A team of experts from Rajasthan will study the 126-year-old heritage structure, dilapidated G Block, in the Secretariat and report whether it could be preserved or not. The experts will come to the Secretariat on April 11.
Governor’s adviser Salauddin Ahmed, Special Chief Secretary (Tourism) Chandana Khan and other officers visited unused G Block at Secretariat on Friday. They examined the building for almost 20 minutes.
It may be recalled that as the H-South Block in the Secretariat was proposed to be allocated to the chief minister of residuary Andhra Pradesh, intelligence officials have examined the need to demolish the G Block (Sarvahita) for security reasons and also for providing parking space for AP Secretariat.
Following this, the Governor’s adviser Salauddin Ahmed inspected the site on Friday and decided to invite experts from Rajasthan to suggest some measures to go about the structure.
The G Block in the Secretariat was constructed in 1888 by sixth Nizam. From seventh Nizam onwards, it was used as GAD office.
The G Block had unique architectural features include its classical European style with grand semi-circular arches, imposing arched portico, Corinthian columns and high ceiling. The ornate staircase and a lift add to the richness of the building.
The two-storeyed building was built with lime mortar. “The lime mortar construction died out in Andhra Pradesh but the technique is still in use in Rajasthan. Rajasthanis preserved even 1,000-year-old lime mortar structures,” the source said. That was why Salauddin Ahmed, former chief secretary of Rajasthan, invited experts from Rajasthan to examine the structure.
“We are not in a hurry to take any decision now on the G Block. The team from Rajasthan will examine whether it can be repaired or not. They will also examine whether it can be restored or not. The government will take a decision on the structure. We are not in a hurry,” governor’s adviser Salauddin Ahmed told Express.
Meanwhile, representatives of Forum for a better Hyderabad called on Governor’s Adviser AN Roy and submitted a memorandum to him not to demolish the G Block. Forum president M Vedakumar, secretary OM Debara and coordinator K Prabhakar echoed similar sentiments.
Unique Style
■ The 2-storeyed building was built with lime mortar
■ It has a classical European style of architecture
■ It has grand semi-circular arches, imposing arched portico, Corinthian columns, high ceiling, ornate staircase and a lift

AP CM May Work from H-South Block

The first chief minister of new Andhra Pradesh state (Seemandhra) is likely to function from H-South Block of the Secretariat. A team of intelligence officials inspected the block to ascertain its suitability for locating the new state chief minister’s office. They went round all the floors of the H- South Block.
They also inspected an unused G Block (Sarvahita) from where NT Rama Rao functioned as chief minister. This block stands exactly opposite H-South.
The officers wanted to know if the unused block would cause any security problem if the CM’s office was set up in H-South.
Officials are also weighing the pros and cons of demolishing the G Block to create parking space for the Seemandhra Secretariat. Its demolition may invite protests and even resistance from the Telangana quarters.
The ‘G’ Block was built by the sixth Nizam, Mahaboob Ali Pasha, in 1888 and was named Saifabad Palace. Heritage activists in Telangana may demand that the building be preserved as a heritage structure.
“We have submitted various proposals to the governor on location of the offices of the two chief ministers. He and his advisers will visit the blocks and take a final decision,” an officer told Express.
According to sources, there will be a fencing between the old gate of the Secretariat and KG School to divide the Secretariat between Andhra and Telangana so that ‘C’ and other blocks can be used by the Telangana government, and ‘H’ and other blocks by AP.
The Telangana chief minister may function from C Block and enter the Secretariat through a new gate to be opened near the helipad. The AP chief minister is likely to use use the existing gate. “These are only proposals and the governor will take a decision soon,” the sources said.
Proposals
■ A fence to be erected between the old gate and KG School to divide the premises between the two govts
■ ‘C’ and other blocks to be allotted to T govt and H-South and others to AP
■ AP Cm will use the present main gate and the T CM a new gate to be built near the helipad
■ The dilapidated and unused ‘G’ Block opposite H-South may be demolished for car parking for AP secretariat
CJI Orders Listing of All 18 Pleas against Telangana Bill in May
Hyderabad: Chief justice of India justice P Sathasivam directed the registry on Thursday to post all the petitions challenging the AP Reorganisation Bill- 2014 for listing in the first week of May.
The directive follows Satish Galla and other advocates seeking expeditious hearing of the petitions in view of the Centre’s notification declaring June 2 as the appointed day for formation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states.
On March 7, a bench headed by justice HL Dattu, while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to bifurcate the state and to create a separate Telangana, said the matter may be placed before the Constitution bench since several constitutional questions were raised in the petitions.
As many as 18 petitions were filed separately by former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Congress MPs Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Vundavalli Arun Kumar, TDP MP CM Ramesh, YSRC MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, BJP leader Raghu Rama Krishna Raju and several others.

Progress of Division Work Uneven, Says Chief Secy

Chief secretary PK Mohanty has said that the progress of state’s division was uneven across various departments.
‘’The progress so far is uneven across departments and also within the departments across the entities. Hence, all secretaries are required to coordinate and ensure that the work gets completed as per the time-lines across all entities under their administrative control by paying specific attention to those organisations where the quantum of work is more and the capacity is low,” the chief secretary said here on Wednesday.
The chief secretary has decided to conduct a review meeting on the progress of division work with the secretaries of various departments on Thursday at GAD conference hall at 3.30 pm.
In a memo, Mohanty directed the secretaries to prepare a succinct presentation, not more than six slides. The coverage should include plan of action for that specific issue on the agenda, timelines, the progress so far and areas of concern.
Specific action points for secretaries should be flagged and hard copies of instruction for follow up should be made available to all the secretaries, the chief secretary said.
‘’All secretaries are aware that there are a number of issues which require action to be taken, with their respective ministries at the Central government. Copies of such correspondence should be made available to the chief secretary and the State Reorganisation department,” the Chief Secretary said.
“Important, time bound issues should be identified, and necessary letters which require to be sent from Chief Secretary should be sent immediately.”
All secretaries are aware that the reorganisation exercise covers the entire government machinery - Secretariat, Heads of Departments, Corporations, Trusts and other entities which are established under specific Acts. The progress so far is uneven across departments and also within the departments across the entities, he said.

DGPs of Two States to Share Same Premises in Hyd’bad

Express News Service - HYDERABAD

Published: 02nd April 2014 09:04 AM

Last Updated: 02nd April 2014 09:04 AM

The directorsgeneral of police (DGPs) of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will tentatively share the existing offices of DGP (intelligence), CID and APSP. The exact details of allocation will be worked out separately. Pr inc ipal s e c r e t ar y (home) TP Das informed governor ESL Narasimhan at a review meeting at the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday that both the DGPs would function from the same premises. “Reorganisation of APSP plays a crucial role in maintenance of law and order and providing security to vital installations, establishments and to VVIPs,” Das said and proposed to include Greyhounds, Octopus, Special Intelligence Bureau, Counter Intelligence, State Crime Records Bureau, Finger Prints Bureau, SPF Training Centre and other services in Schedule 10 of the State Reorganisation Act. The governor asked Das to assess the requirement of additional forces as the division would diminish available resource pool of existing police battalions. The principal secretary said the AP State Police Housing Corporation should continue to function even after the appointed day and its assets and liabilities shall be apportioned between the two states. The AP Police Academy, the AP Forensic Science Laboratory, AP Fire Service, Civil Defence Training Institute and other institutions under Schedule 10 will continue to provide the same facilities as may be agreed upon between the two state governments within a period of one year.
Roy Takes Charge as Guv’s Adviser
Hyderabad: Former DGP of Maharashtra Anami Narayan Roy assumed charge as advisor to Governor ESL Narasimhan on Tuesday and attended a review meeting conducted immediately by the governor on division of home department. Roy’s pet scheme of inclusive policing for poor slum-dwellers, Slum Police Panchayat, is highly acclaimed and is being adopted in several countries. Meanwhile, chief secretary PK Mohanty has distributed the subjects between the two advisers to governor, AN Roy and Salauddin Ahmed.

'Busy' State Govt Forgoes Rs 15,000 Cr Central Funds

In what is being seen as a typical case of irresponsibility, the state government has failed to utilise Rs 15,000 crore Central grants in 2013-14. This was on account of the failure of various departments in submitting utilisation certificates to the Centre of their share of funds.
However, sources in the finance department said there was still hope that the funds might not lapse if the Centre as an exceptional case revalidates the claim of the two state governments after division for release of grants. But there is a catch here.
Even for revalidation to happen, the Centre would insist in utilisation certificates. If the departments had not spent the state’s share, there is no way they can submit utilisation certificates. Only in case of fund that had been spent, they would be able to send certificates.
The main reason for the failure of utilising the Central grants for the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) was that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy could not focus on the development in the last three months of his tenure and mainly focused on the anti-division movement.
After Kiran Reddy demitted the office, the officials too were busy with the division work and could not get the grants.
Chief Secretary PK Mohanty and other officials from Finance Department rushed to Delhi two days ago for obtaining funds. But, it was too late as the financial year was coming to a close.
There is criticism that the officials woke up from slumber in the last minute. What all assurance they got from Delhi was that their pleas would be considered if they submit utilisation certificates. This clearly shows how the administration came to a stand still due to the political leadership which engaged more in politics than administration.
According to sources, the State failed to utilise `6,500 crore funds under Centrally Sponsored Schemes and another `5,000 crore in the form of Central guarantees. The state could not get grants of `4,000 under 13th Finance Commission, which included `500 crore for agriculture, `650 crore for education, `350 for medical and `700 crore for welfare sector.
The State could not get around `4,000 crore for municipalities and Panchayat Raj bodies. This was because of non-conduct of elections to local bodies. By the time elections were completed, the financial year came to an end.

plunk
Definition:	To throw or place heavily or abruptly.
Synonyms:	plonk, plump, flump, plank, plop

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