C Pradeep Kumar
Vijayawada
A recent incident has cast a spotlight on the Endowments Department. An alleged irregularity has come to light, involving the extension of licences for shops located at Sri Challamraju Venkata Sesaiah Choultry Samarangam Chowk in the city. This has raised concern as the process appears to have disregarded departmental regulations. The issue revolves around the extension of license rights for an unusual period of 11 years.
Licences were granted to Modern City Electrical & Home Appliances and Sri Sudarsan Fancy & Electricals, both for an 11-year duration. This action was carried out on a nomination basis, bypassing established regulations. The issuance of the licences was evident in the orders dated March 19, 2023, issued by the endowments commissioner M Hari Jawaharlal.
Modern City Electrical & Home Appliances received a licence from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2032, while Sri Sudarsan Fancy & Electricals was granted a licence from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2036. This extension of licences for such a prolonged period contradicted the established guidelines of the endowments department.
Interestingly, the case was presented by EO M Satya Prasad Babu, focussing exclusively on the two shops. Deputy Commissioner (Kakinada) Vijay Raju of the Endowments department lent support by recommending the case to the then Endowments Commissioner M Hari Jawaharlal. The Commissioner subsequently issued orders in favour of these shops. Allegations have surfaced suggesting that significant monetary transactions took place within the department at various levels in connection to this favour.
In response, present Endowments Commissioner S Satyanarayana has taken action.
The orders pertaining to the extended licences have been put on hold, and an investigation has been initiated into the matter. This decision was made due to the apparent violation of regulations during the process of issuing the shop licences.
