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Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairperson KC Venugopal on Wednesday expressed serious concerns over financial mismanagement and a 12-year delay in the construction of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS), following a PAC meeting where the region's Chief Secretary failed to appear.
Speaking to ANI, Venugopal said, "The agenda relates to the audit report on Union Territories like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chandigarh. The Chief Secretary of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not attend...the discussion was regarding the audit of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences and Chandigarh Welfare Board," he said. Venogopal said that the Home Secretary has been asked to provide an explaination about the Chief Secretary's absence from the meeting. "An explanation why he's not accessible. The Home Secretary should give an explanation. He has to give an explanation for not attending the Public Accounts Committee meeting," he said. When asked about the status of the institution, Venugopal flagged "discrepancies" in the work, stating, "That's why we discussed it because for the last 12 years, construction has been going on. Poor management. Construction work is very slow. A lot of discrepancies are there." The previous meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) was held on June 4 in the Parliament premises. The agenda of the meeting included a briefing by Audit, followed by the oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on the subject "Performance Audit of Skill Development under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana" based on the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The committee considered and adopted the draft Reports as done by Sub-Committee-II (Defence) and Sub-Committee-VI (Non-Compliance). (ANI)
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