Top-Level Deals? Allegations of Favoritism in AP 108, 104 Service Contracts

In the Andhra Pradesh government, his influence is no small matter. In the coalition government led by the TDP, he is now in a position to get whatever he wants, according to government sources. Because before speaking, he is addressed as Sir Doctor… Madam Doctor. Not only that, a key IAS officer in the CMO, and even that officer’s staff, are said to be carrying out all the tasks requested by this doctor, government sources say. It hasn’t stopped with them… now, whichever key minister orders something to be done instantly, it is said that everything is being discussed with him, and projects worth thousands of crores are being secured in the government, according to official circles. His name is Pawan Kumar Donepudi. In the past, he also worked as the TDP Doctors Cell President, TDP sources said. This has now paved the way for him to secure projects worth thousands of crores in the Andhra Pradesh government, according to reports.

Officials are commenting that the situation in AP has turned into one where whichever party is in power, their people bag contracts worth thousands of crores. Be it the capital Amaravati or the AP Medical Department, the same trend continues. Since the days of the united state, the prestigious 108 services in Andhra Pradesh were run by reputed organizations. Initially, Satyam Computers’ Satyam Foundation and Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), and later GVK-EMRI jointly handled the responsibilities. After state bifurcation, even in Chandrababu’s first term, GVK handled them. During Jagan’s rule, these responsibilities were handed over to Aurobindo company. Criticism has always existed that whoever comes to power hands over these responsibilities to their own chosen people or friendly companies. Now, the coalition government in Andhra Pradesh is also facing the same criticism. Because, along with the crucial 108 services, the 104 services and the Emergency Response System responsibilities have also been given by the coalition government led by the TDP to Bhavya Health Services Private Limited. This company, along with Bengaluru-based SRIT India Private Limited, secured this contract. Another key point here is that compared to the total payments made during the Jagan government, the present coalition government is paying this company significantly larger amounts, officials revealed.

For this, an excuse called “additional services” was also created… A senior IAS officer expressed doubt as to whether there is any system at all in government to review the work done by these companies. In this way, within four years, companies with no prior experience in managing these services have been entrusted with contracts worth thousands of crores, they said. Another striking detail here is that the tender rules were allegedly modified only to benefit this company, ensuring that no other company even had a chance to enter the race, government sources said. Behind this entire matter, a young minister said to be pulling strings in the Andhra Pradesh government was involved, and that is why this company bagged such a huge project, a senior IAS officer revealed.

But unexpectedly, even though a Mumbai-based company submitted a tender, its bid was rejected, officials said. In reality, that company was eligible, according to those connected to the matter. Work that was earlier handled by big reputed companies has now been allocated by the government bigwigs to their own chosen firms through this tender, benefiting them massively, it is alleged. All of this happened at the top level itself, with some other companies even being threatened to stay away from competition, an officer disclosed. Moreover, these dealings did not really involve the concerned department, but were all handled entirely at the top level, it is being said. Some officials revealed that Donepudi Pawan Kumar bagged these projects by declaring in advance that as soon as the TDP came to power, these projects would be his.