The Telangana government has decided to take action on the Justice P C Ghose Commission's report into the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, but only after a detailed discussion in both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. This was announced by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy in a joint press conference on Monday after a cabinet meeting to discuss the report's findings.
The cabinet, for the first time, met with the Kaleshwaram project as its sole agenda and formally approved the 665-page report.
Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, in a detailed presentation to the media, highlighted the key findings of the commission.
The report, which was submitted to the government on July 31, holds former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao "directly and vicariously accountable" for the alleged irregularities as reported earlier by NDTV.
According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, the report states that crucial decisions, including the site changes and administrative approvals for the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages, were made without cabinet approval, in violation of business rules.
When former Chief Minister KCR, former irrigation minister Harish Rao, and former finance and planning minister Eatela Rajender had deposed before the commission, all three had insisted that all decisions were presented before the cabinet and all approvals were given by the cabinet.
The commission found "rampant and brazen procedural and financial irregularities" from the project's conceptualization to its execution. The report also implicated several senior officers and engineers for their roles in the lapses. The commission identified 19 officials as liable for action.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy emphasised that the government's intention is not to pursue political vendetta. He stated that the government would table the report in the upcoming Assembly session to seek the opinion of all political parties before finalizing a course of action. This, he said, would ensure a transparent and democratic process to address the "colossal waste of public money" that the commission concluded the project had become.
