It is known that the opposition party head Chandrababu Naidu and some media channels have been throwing allegations on the APDCL (AP Digital Corporation Ltd) regarding the misuse of funds. To this Chinna Vasudeva Reddy, the MD and VC of APDCL released a rejoinder furnishing all the details of allocated budget and the expenses made so far.
Here is the complete text of the rejoinder:
“There is a smear campaign against the Organization and its officials at a personal level by ABN Network, TV5 News, Respected Leader of Opposition Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu, and Respected Member of Parliament, Sri Raghuram Raju. Recently, Hon’ble MP spoke in a TV channel and raised many false claims regarding APDCL, and The Leader of Opposition also alleged the same claims with few more fictional allegations. I am hereby answering them.
I deny all such allegations leveled by the media houses, Leader of the Opposition and Hon’ble Member of Parliament against APDCL and its officials which are politically motivated and seem to be made with mala-fide intensions, for reasons best known to them. Also, as I see, there is an active conspiracy going on against the organization and me. If this malicious campaign doesn’t stop, I will be compelled to look into the matter legally in the interests of the organization.
1. I have taken the role of VC & MD of AP Digital Corporation Limited on 10th of April 2020. Though the ideation and effort to start the Digital Corporation started a few months earlier, formal operations started in September 2020 only, after the formal Memorandum of Association came into effect under the Companies Act 1956. APDCL formally came into existence in September 2020 only.
2. It was alleged that 100 Cr per year had been spent by APDCL in the last two years.
As per the APDCL’s budget numbers, Rs.100 Cr per year were just budgetary allocations, and APDCL as an organization had spent only a fraction of the allocated budget in the first two years of being in operation.
a. Financial Year 2020-21: The first year, allocated budget was 100 crores out of which, APDCL spent only Rs. 4.03 Cr, due to administrative and technical reasons.
b. Financial Year 2021-22: The second year allocated budget was 100 crores out of which, so far, APDCL spent only Rs. 12.31 Cr.
c. Above expenses include Organization’s Onetime Setup costs (including infrastructure), Employee Salaries, Office Maintenance, Onetime Setup and Running costs of the Fact-check Unit and Govt Scheme Promotions along with Public Testimonials.
3. As VC & MD of the Organization, I’ve not drawn any salary till today. And I take care of my personal travel expenses to visit my family, on my own. The Hon’ble MP making allegations on a news channel about my finances, is not at all true and I demand an apology.
4. It was alleged that APDCL is the prime promoter of a negative campaign through social media against Hon’ble High Court.
It is totally false. APDCL was not in existence when the incident happened (which was in Apr/May of 2020). And APDCL doesn’t endorse or approve of such incidents. And so far, APDCL has not received any formal communication from the CBI investigation team. This constant campaign against APDCL to create a negative impression, is deplorable.
5. It was alleged that the employees of APDCL are hired from one political party without any proper formality and the payments are done through Mobile UPI accounts.
APDCL functions just like any other government organization and follows all the government processes in terms of hiring and other work practices. APDCL is run by its Board of Directors, who are from different government departments. The salaries are paid through Govt. norms, and there are no transactions through mobile UPI wallets.
6. Another allegation was that APDCL is involved in some Casino games.
And, I have no idea how to answer this hilarious claim.
Under these facts and circumstances, it is clearly evident that the Hon’ble Member of Parliament, The Leader of Opposition and the above-mentioned media houses have made fake and fabricated allegations which tantamount to damaging the image and reputation of the Government/organization for no genuine reason.
The Hon’ble Member of Parliament, The Leader of Opposition and the above-mentioned media houses seem very rattled with the good work the APDC is doing, by creating awareness and update Citizens of the State with latest factual information on various welfare schemes and developmental activities undertaken by the Government through visually compelling stories through digital media. We also work towards unmasking any false information, on the AP Government and the state of Andhra Pradesh through our Factcheck unit.
We will continue to follow our aspirations in pursuing APDC’s goal of furthering the AP Digital Mission, and if the Hon’ble Member of Parliament, The Leader of Opposition, the above-mentioned media houses or anyone else tries to malign the organization’s image through false allegations and malicious media campaigns, we will be compelled to look into the matter legally, to protect the image of the Government/organization”.
We have to see how Chandrababu Naidu, Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju and the above mentioned media houses respond to this.