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No Scope For Irregularities, Claims TANA

No Scope For Irregularities, Claims TANA

Telugu Association of North America (TANA) has claimed that there were absolutely no irregularities in the donations made to the Andhra Pradesh government towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or Digital Classrooms Project and said all its activities are transparent.

In its three-page rejoinder to Greatandhra.com on the series of articles published in these columns, TANA president Dr V Chowdary Jampala felt that the articles were damaging to the reputation of the 40-year old organisation. 

Here is the full text of the TANA rejoinder:

"Dear Sri Venkat Arikatla:

Greetings.

I am saddened to note a series of articles within the last week in your web site (Greatandhra.com) about our organization, Telugu Association of North America (TANA), that contained several inaccurate statements, and are severely damaging to the reputation of our organization. Today’s edition of your web site went so far as to imply, quite regrettably, that TANA may be engaged in illegal activities – a serious and grave allegation with no material basis in fact. TANA has a stellar reputation of 40 years in service of Telugu community, facilitating more than a million dollars worth of projects every year in the Telugu states and beyond. Thousands of Telugus in North America support educational, healthcare, and infra-structural developmental activities in their native land through TANA and TANA Foundation. The article today in your web site, unnecessarily and without any basis in fact, casts aspersions on TANA organization thereby discouraging these donors and the service activities that benefit millions of Telugu people. It is also regrettable that nobody from your web site has contacted me or any office bearers of TANA until now to verify the facts in these matters.

On 10/22/2016, in an article titled, Behind The Scene: TANA-Tandana, your web site included the statements, “And sadly, whenever most of the NRI organization office-bearers visit India, the expenses for their first-class air tickets, luxury hotels etc are paid for from organization funds. In short, in the name of Associations, Telgu people have successfully managed to create an MP, MLA style culture there where officials thrive on public money.” This statement, in the context of the article, implies that TANA office bearers are utilizing TANA funds for travel and other expenses, which is totally and categorically false, has no material basis and is damaging to the reputation of TANA as well as the reputations of the office bearers of TANA. I can proudly tell you that TANA office bearers, besides donating hundreds of thousands of their own money to support the many projects of TANA and spending countless hours for the execution of TANA projects, spend their personal money for any travel and other related expenses including the trips to India for the biennial Chaitanya Sravanti programs that TANA conducts every two years. It is a matter of record and great pride to us that TANA organization is quite unique as it has been running for the past 40 years with less than 1% of our budget going to operational expenses because our office bearers and volunteers spend their personal time and money for organizational activities. I request you to remove this article from the web site immediately.

On October 24, 2016, in an article titled, Komati Fake Donation To AP For Publicity?, your web site included a statement that ‘Jayaram has drawn Rs. 1 crore from TANA funds”. This statement is false, has no material basis, and is damaging to the reputation of TANA. Mr. Jayaram Komati has not drawn any money from TANA funds, and he does not have any authority to do so. I request you to remove this article from the web site immediately.

On October 25, 2016, in an article entitled, Money Laundering Using TANA?, your web site included the statements, “It looks like some influential Telugu NRIs like Komati Jayaram are using the Telugu Association of North America (of which he was president in the past) for money laundering and siphoning of donations collected from the NRIs in the US.”, “The money of Rs 2 crore collected from NRIs is lying in the TANA’s India accounts. And recently, it came to know that Jayaram had drawn Rs 1 crore from this amount.” And “It was surprising as to how Jayaram had collected fresh donations from NRIs in his individual capacity and not on behalf of TANA for the digital classroom project. Secondly, routing these individual collections to India through TANA amounts to money laundering, as no tax was paid on these collections. Thirdly, drawing Rs 1 crore from the Hudhud collections of TANA account in India amounts to siphoning of donations.” Both the title and the statements are serious charges and have grave implications, are false, have no material basis in facts, and are extremely damaging to the reputation of TANA. I request you to remove this article from the web site immediately.

I request you to
a) retract all the articles and new stories you published in the last week about TANA with inaccuracies including the one today alleging money laundering, and
b) publish the following facts prominently in your website.

1) TANA received a total of $300,645 as donations for relief of areas affected by Hudhud cyclone. TANA offered this amount to the AP CM Relief Fund with the intention of building housing for the displaced victims, as we have done in our previous cyclone relief efforts in Prakasam and Kurnool Districts. TANA was requested to keep the funds until the AP government comes up with a suitable plan for utilizing the funds in the Hudhud affected areas. In July 2016, the AP Education department requested TANA to utilize these funds towards the Digital Classrooms Scheme in Hudhud affected areas, thereby leveraging the 70% grants from Central government. On July 13, 2016, TANA Executive Committee discussed this issue thoroughly and decided that 50% (about Rs. one crore) of the Hudhud relief funds would be spent towards establishing Digital Classrooms in Hudhud affected areas helping the poor rural students bridge the digital divide and the other 50% (about Rs. one crore) would be spent towards building Anganwadi Centers serving rural women and children in Hudhud affected areas. This money is with TANA Foundation India and will be disbursed to the appropriate government agencies during the execution of these projects.

2) TANA Foundation, as part of its developmental activities in Andhra Pradesh, has taken up projects to support establishing Digital Classrooms, Anganwadi Centers and Funeral Shelters under the AP Janmabhumi projects. Several donors, mostly with the efforts from Sri Komati Jayaram, AP Government Special Representative in America, have decided to support these projects and are sending their donations to TANA Foundation to execute these projects in their native villages. These donations are with TANA Foundation and will be disbursed to the appropriate government agencies during the execution of these projects.

3) TANA is a duly incorporated non-profit organization with a 501(c)3 designation from the Internal Revenue Service and meticulously follows all laws, regulations and accounting practices. The leadership of TANA is very involved in the operations of the organization and carefully monitors all the financial aspects. TANA is proud that it has been functioning for the past 40 years with very little operational costs (less than 1% of the budget) as all TANA office bearers and volunteers generously donate their time, money and efforts for all TANA projects and spend their own money, without any reimbursement, for all TANA related travel and incidental expenses. It is this dedication of our members, volunteers and leadership that has helped TANA attain the status of being the Premier Service Organization of Telugus in North America and across the world.

4) TANA as the oldest and the largest international Telugu organization is fully committed to its mission of “identifying and addressing the social, cultural and educational NEEDS of North American Telugu Community in particular and Telugu people in general.” Within the last year, TANA spent more than a million dollars in service activities in US and India, conducted more than 100 educational, health and cultural programs in US, and helped in more than 100 cases of catastrophic and emergency incidents thru TANA TEAM Square. We request everyone in North America to join TANA, volunteer and contribute to serving the Telugu community.

Hoping to get an immediate and positive response from you,

Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. V. Chowdary Jampala
President
Telugu Association of North America (TANA)
"

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