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• In order to keep the Congress elected representatives happy and contented so that he has a smooth run till 2014, chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is planning an increased allocation of Rs 600 crore for the Special Development Fund in the coming budget for the next financial year.The Special Development Fund for Welfare and Development Activities (SDFWDA) is a scheme of the planning department under which funds can be released entirely at the discretion of the chief minister to elected representatives for various works without calling for tender.
• The planning department has already moved a file to the finance department seeking this increased allocation, highly placed sources told TOI.Since there is no tender for these works, MLAs can allot it on 'nomination basis' to those who can benefit them the maximum. Projects under the scheme are also highly sought after by contractors as in the absence of any audit, they can get away with low quality work.This year, Kiran Kumar has doled out works under the Special Development Fund to several ministers and ruling party MLAs for having supported him in some manner. The silence of many Telangana Congress MLAs during the separate state agitation was bought over by 'gifting' them works under the scheme.
• In all, 119 government orders have been issued allotting such works under the discretion of the chief minister to 64 MLAs, MLCs and MPs this year so far totaling Rs 400 crore, the amount that was allotted in the 2011-12 budget. The allotment of Rs 600 crore for the special development fund for 2012-13 has the 'approval' of the finance department, sources said, though it is the assembly that will ultimately pass the budget .According to the sources, the money doled out under the special development fund is basically gifted to the MLAs to buy their silence and cooperation. "In fact, none of the works get executed and in the rare cases that they do, are of very poor quality," said an official. Hoping to have Rs 600 crore at his disposal for the next financial year, the chief minister can be assured of doling out further largesse and buy peace from his detractors.
• In fact, Kiran Kumar Reddy is only following the footsteps of his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who bought the silence of Congress MLAs by doling out Rs 50 lakh to each legislator per year in the name of constituency development fund.After Kiran Kumar took over in November 2010, he launched the special development fund in the 2011-12 financial year with an allocation of Rs 400 crore.Among the ministers to be pampered by the scheme was DK Aruna, for whom Rs 45 crore was released for the construction of a two-lane outer ring road in her native Gadwal town of Mahabubnagar district.This, when most of the major towns in the state do not have two lane roads. The other ministers who received funds under this scheme for various works included, minister S Sailajanath got Rs 6 crore allotted under the scheme for developmental works in his Singanamala assembly constituency in Anantapur district. Manikya Vara Prasad secured Rs 2.79 crore under the scheme for construction of roads and drains in his Tadikonda constituency in Guntur district and minister M Mahidhar Reddy was allotted Rs 2 crore for works in his Kandukur constituency in Prakasam district.
• The Telangana Congress MLAs who stood by Kiran Kumar Reddy during the Telangana movement and who benefitted from the scheme include Uttam Kumar Reddy (Rs 5 crore for his Huzurnagar constituency in Nalgonda) Rega Kantha Rao (Pinapaka), Oggela Mitrasen (Aswaraopet), P Kista Reddy (Narayankhed), Ch Muthyam Reddy (Dubbaka), T Narsa Reddy (Gajwel) and T Jayaprakash Reddy (Sangareddy).Interestingly in coastal Andhra, those who did not align with YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy are the beneficiaries of the largesse.

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