The Andhra Pradesh government led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy started its week on a bad note as a division bench of the Supreme Court shocked the state government and directed the government to follow its orders on the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and granted two weeks for the same.
The alleged diversion of the Rs 1100 crore of Covid-19 relief funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) has reached the Supreme Court and the bench is believed to have satisfied with the pieces of evidence that prove that the government diverted the funds and used the same to fund the welfare schemes.
Having granted two weeks to send back the money to the SDRF, the bench directed the Andhra Pradesh government to clear the ex-gratia of the Covid victims in not less than four weeks.
What the Andhra Pradesh government did is a serious crime and diverting the funds which were supposed to reach the families of the Covid victims who lost their loved ones to continue the welfare schemes is not a small thing.
It is the duty of the party to implement the schemes it had promised earlier. But that cannot be at the cost of the families which are mourning the death of their family members who breathed their last battling the contagious Covid virus.
What the YSRCP did would increase its image as people will talk about how the Chief Minister implemented the schemes despite the state economy not being in a good shape. But it is the families of the Covid deceased who are getting affected by the delay and non-payment of the ex gratia they should get as per the rules.
This incident also shows to what extent the YSRCP government can go to continue the welfare schemes under its flagship Navaratnalu. Earlier too when the opposition parties expressed concerns about the debt crisis the schemes would bring it continued, the government did not stop the schemes.
Now the government continuing the schemes by spending the funds of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is a serious matter and many hope the government will learn from the mistake.
The alleged diversion of the Rs 1100 crore of Covid-19 relief funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) has reached the Supreme Court and the bench is believed to have satisfied with the pieces of evidence that prove that the government diverted the funds and used the same to fund the welfare schemes.
Having granted two weeks to send back the money to the SDRF, the bench directed the Andhra Pradesh government to clear the ex-gratia of the Covid victims in not less than four weeks.
What the Andhra Pradesh government did is a serious crime and diverting the funds which were supposed to reach the families of the Covid victims who lost their loved ones to continue the welfare schemes is not a small thing.
It is the duty of the party to implement the schemes it had promised earlier. But that cannot be at the cost of the families which are mourning the death of their family members who breathed their last battling the contagious Covid virus.
What the YSRCP did would increase its image as people will talk about how the Chief Minister implemented the schemes despite the state economy not being in a good shape. But it is the families of the Covid deceased who are getting affected by the delay and non-payment of the ex gratia they should get as per the rules.
This incident also shows to what extent the YSRCP government can go to continue the welfare schemes under its flagship Navaratnalu. Earlier too when the opposition parties expressed concerns about the debt crisis the schemes would bring it continued, the government did not stop the schemes.
Now the government continuing the schemes by spending the funds of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is a serious matter and many hope the government will learn from the mistake.