Congressmen stall PAC meet

Hyderabad, Dec. 15: The Public Accounts Committee was forcibly adjourned on Tuesday when several Congress members objected to the committee chairman, Mr Y. Ramakrishnudu, insisting on reopening a file pertaining to irregularities in finalising the tenders for the Yellampally Barrage.

The PAC which met on November 28 in the absence of Mr Ramakrishnudu had decided to close the file regarding audit objections raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The CAG had found fault with the overnight inclusion of Rs 391 crore more than the amount for the project. It had remarked that this was done for the benefit of contractors. And as per rules, the CAG findings are either automatically endorsed or deleted after in-depth discussion by PAC members.

Meanwhile, Mr Ramakrishnudu, had received some representations from Opposition members requesting him to re-open the file. This prompted him to convene the PAC meet on Monday.

However, when the PAC meeting began in the Assembly premises, all the Congress members objected to the move saying that the file cannot be reopened since it was discussed several times earlier and the last meeting had decided to finish the discussion as it was happy with the government’s reply on CAG’s findings.

This argument was countered by the Opposition members including Mr Ramakrishnudu, who said the rules permit reopening a file even after an issue is closed. Then, the Congress members rose from their chairs and rushed to the control room in the hall and removed mikes and power connections to prevent the Opposition members from speaking on the subject.

After that, some more Congress members rushed to the Opposition tables and removed the name plates triggering a commotion for more than half-an-hour. In the melee, Mr Ramakrishnudu adjourned the meeting to Tuesday.

Later, talking to the media, Mr Ramakrishnudu said that the file related to irregularities in Yellampally will definitely be debated again on Tuesday as he had the power to do it.

He also said committee will undertake a trip to the project area to study the issue. He condemned the behaviour of the Congress members and said he will bring it to the notice of the Speaker.

Yellampally project file to be reopened

Hyderabad, Dec. 16: Despite the controversy surrounding the reopening of the Yellampally Barriage file, the Public Action Committee has decided to reopen it. The PAC which met on Tuesday following a din created by the ruling Congress MLAs during Monday’s meeting decided to reopen the file relating to the audit objections in finalisation of excess amount of Rs 391 crore in the tender process.

Though the ruling party MLAs objected to the reopening of the file, Mr Y. Ramakrishnudu, the chairman of the committee, said that it is within his powers to reopen any file even after it has been declared closed. Mr Ramakrishnudu quoted some of the relevant rules and procedures from the Kowl and Shakder’s practice and procedure of Parliament.

After hearing the rules from the chairman, the Congress MLAs decided to cooperate with the proceedings of the committee. It was also decided during the meeting that the committee visit the Yellampally Barriage site on January 3, 2009, and then finalise its findings.

The Congress members who were present during the meeting said that they will demand a voting structure in the committee, whenever the recommendation part of proceedings will be raised during the meeting, as the Congress has a majority in the committee.