Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao wrote a letter to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan seeking his direction for a special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and a CBI inquiry into the alleged embezzlement of huge sums from the Personal Deposit Accounts (PDA) in Andhra Pradesh. He said the scandal involved ₹53,039 crore of public money and it became evident from the CAG report on the State Finances for 2016-17.
The CAG report revealed that there were 58,539 PDA and ₹53,038 crore was deposited in them and ₹51,448 crore was paid out to third parties.
‘Large-scale diversion’
It said its audit could not vouch for the payments as the list of beneficiaries/third parties was not furnished for audit by the Finance department. Mr. Rao accused the AP government of blocking disclosure and scrutiny of payments.
He alleged that the government was scared that the real beneficiaries would be exposed and it clearly showed a large-scale diversion and misappropriation with the collusion at all levels. The State government would not have blocked the CAG audit had the money not reached unscrupulous individuals.The BJP MP said the ‘PD scam’ was far bigger than the fodder scam in Bihar which had the then Chief Minister Lalu Prasad himself convicted.
The intervention of the Governor of Bihar had helped in the fodder scam investigation.
Therefore, the Governor of A.P. and Telangana should use his discretionary powers to order a special CAG audit for identifying the real beneficiaries and a CBI investigation for fixing criminal liability.
