Kakinada: Centre finds fault with appointments

Kakinada: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Mission Smart city Division found fault with the appointments made by the State government regarding the chairman posts to Smart City Corporations of Tirupati, Kakinada and Visakhapatnam.

When BJP senior leader Duvvuri Subrahmanyam asked the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs about the appointments of chairperson posts to the Smart cities, made by the State government, the Ministry stated that the posts should be given to only Divisional Commissioner, the Collector, the Municipal Commissioner and the Chief Executive of Urban Development Authority as decided by the State government.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Sabak Lal Prasad said that the appointment of persons other than those stipulated in the SCM guidelines is clear violation of the guidelines. The Secretary has written a letter to the Chief Secretary of AP pointing out the erroneous appointments. They wanted the State government to follow the SCM guidelines.

Subrahmanyam demanded the government to cancel the appointment of chairman at Kakinada and follow guidelines and instructions of the Central government. The Centre wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary of AP for taking necessary action.

State BJP spokesperson Yenimireddy Malakondaiah stated that the appointments made by the chairpersons of the Smart City Corporations of Kakinada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati have contravened the rules and norms of the Smart City Mission. He further alleged that Central governments funds released for the purpose of development of the Smart Cities were embezzled.

Even though the Central government sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore for each smart city the TDP as well as YCP governments have misused the funds and benefited very little for the development of the smart cities. He said that this matter has been brought to the notice of the Central government. Malakondaiah demanded the State government to immediately follow the instructions of the Central government with regard to appointments of the Smart Cities chairmen in AP.