The presentation of a cheque for Rs 4.5 crore by Komati Jayaram, former president Telugu Association of North America (TANA) and presently special representative of the Andhra Pradesh government in North America to chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu for digital classrooms in government schools, is said to be just a publicity stunt.
According to sources, what Jayaram had presented to Naidu was only a large-sized replica of the cheque for Rs 4.5 crore and the actual cheque had not been presented to the government so far.
But with the photograph of Jayaram presenting cheque getting published in all the media, Naidu had got what he wanted – big publicity in the name of mobilising NRI funds for digital classroom project; and for Jayaram, it helped build up his image among the NRIs.
If that is the case, why did Jayaram present Rs 4.5 crore cheque to AP? Sources said the ex-TANA president had drawn Rs 1 crore from the amount of Rs 2 crore TANA already mobilised from the NRIs towards rehabilitation of Visakhapatnam Hudhud cyclone victims.
In fact, the TANA wanted to spend the amount on re-construction of weaker section houses that were destroyed during the cyclone, but when the chief minister told them that the housing programme would be funded by the Centre, the amount was transferred to TANA accounts in India for taking up other cyclone-related works.
Of this Rs 2 crore, Jayaram had drawn Rs 1 crore and added another Rs 75 lakh mobilised from the NRIs again and donated Rs 1.75 crore to the digital classroom project.
While diversion of Hudhud funds to digital classrooms with authorisation from the TANA board itself is a disputable decision, one wonders how Rs 1.75 crore had become Rs 4.5 crore while presenting cheque to the Chief Minister. Where did Jayaram get the remaining Rs 2.75 crore from?
Going by the explanation given by the present TANA president Dr Jampala Chowdary, the Komati Jayaram had pledged Rs 4.5 crore to the AP government towards digital classroom project, but the actual money mobilised from the NRIs was only Rs 75 lakh and another Rs 50 lakh would be mobilised shortly.
Even if one were to go by this explanation, it would only be Rs 1.25 crore; and even if one were to admit that Jayaram was authorised to draw Rs 1 crore from Hudhud funds, the total amount would become Rs 2.25 crore only and not Rs 4.5 crore.
It clearly shows, the TANA is dancing to the tunes of Jayaram, who has presented a fake cheque for Rs 4.5 crore to Naidu towards digital classrooms for the sake of publicity, while the total donation might not exceed Rs 2.25 crore (including the amount drawn from Hudhud donations). So, why all this drama!
