Andhra cabinet to scrap reverse tendering system introduced by YSRCP govt

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh cabinet here on Wednesday had decided to scrap the reverse tendering system for government contracts introduced by the previous YSRCP government.

The YSRCP government had claimed to have saved public money by introducing a reverse tendering system.

On Wednesday, the Andhra Pradesh cabinet went paperless. Despite conducting numerous paperless cabinet meetings in the past using a different application, this time the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Delhi, developed a comprehensive application with multiple features and an end-to-end workflow.

“The Cabinet has approved a proposal to revert to the old tendering process. The Cabinet has approved a comprehensive plan to complete the Polavaram Left Main Canal works, which are currently being executed by the existing agencies, at an estimated cost of Rs. 1226.68 crores. The Cabinet has also approved a proposal to invite tenders for the balance works of the pre-closed packages of the Left Main Canal, under the Long Stop (LS) method, as per the Schedule of Rates (SoR) 2024-25. The Chief Minister directed the Irrigation Department to take planned measures to ensure that all reservoirs and tanks are filled to capacity during the current season, given the good rainfall,” said housing minister, Kolusu Parthsarathy after the meeting.

Cabinet also approved removal of former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's name, photos, and party logos from land ownership documents. The Cabinet has decided to remove the name, photos, and party logos of former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy from 21.86 lakh land ownership documents and replace them with new ones.

The Cabinet has also approved the removal of Jagan's photos from 77 lakh survey stones and reuse them.

It has given the green signal to conduct revenue meetings to resolve disputes over 22A and freehold lands. It has also decided to suspend the registration of disputed lands.

It has also decided to investigate 29 lakh freehold lands, of which 16.66 lakh acres have been found to be encroached upon. It has also identified 25,230 acres of land that have been registered. In this context, the Chief Minister suggested that village councils discuss the encroached lands and conduct a forensic audit to determine how they were encroached upon. He also suggested taking stronger measures to prevent tampering with land records in the future.

Cabinet also has decided to reorganize the Excise Department and abolish the Special Enforcement Bureau, which was established in May 2020. Prior to 2019, the Executive, Enforcement, and Distillery Wings were under a single line of control and worked efficiently, said Parthasarathy.

However, after the establishment of the Special Enforcement Bureau, coordination issues arose between Excise personnel and SEB, leading to a loss of control over illicit liquor, non-duty paid liquor, and other crimes, he observed. As a result, NDPL crimes increased by 66pc between 2019-2024. A study team that visited Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Telangana found that the Excise Department in these states worked well with a single line of control.

“Therefore, it was proposed to merge SEB personnel into the Excise Department. The previous government did not use SEB to increase revenue. The Cabinet felt that the previous Excise policy caused a loss of Rs 18,860 crore to the state and resulted in severe damage to the state and public health due to lack of proper control. In this context, the Chief Minister suggested introducing a new Excise policy,” said Parthasarathy.

E Cabinet

Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday conducted the first e-Cabinet meeting using a multi-featured comprehensive application developed by the National Informatics Center (NIC) in Delhi, based on advanced technology. In the e-Cabinet system, the ministerial agenda, cabinet notes, etc. will be available online.

The e-Cabinet operation, based on the paperless concept, enhances operational efficiency and reflects reality, thereby increasing monitoring capacity and being environmentally friendly, said housing minister Parthasarathy.

“Ministers can effectively monitor the implementation of Cabinet decisions. Relevant information can be accessed online from anywhere, at any time, and the information can be kept confidential. It is conducive to effectively monitoring and estimating the implementation status of Cabinet decisions at any time. There is an opportunity to secure information and prevent unauthorized access, with comprehensive data analysis, reporting capabilities, and artificial intelligence features. The e-Office has additional features such as virtual Cabinet meetings and the use of artificial intelligence,” he said and added that the Chief Minister suggested that the Cabinet take planned actions on the installation of 14,000 CC cameras in residential areas across the state and the connection of private CC TVs near private properties and buildings to monitor peace and security.