The opposition AIADMK has welcomed the rapprochement between Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy which was evident by the participation of Mr. Narayanasamy and his Cabinet colleagues in the reception hosted by Ms. Bedi in Raj Nivas.
“This is a good augury and should have been done earlier,” AIADMK legislature party leader A. Anbalagan told the media on Wednesday.
The difference of opinion between Ms. Bedi and Mr. Narayanasamy had pushed Puducherry backwards and mutual accusations and blame game had been hindering the development. Now that they had come to a cordial understanding, it was a good for the Union Territory to be back on growth trajectory, he said.
Mr. Anbalagan said that Ms. Bedi and Mr. Narayanasamy should jointly make a representation to the Centre on the current fiscal crisis in Puducherry and procure sufficient funds. The fiscal setback had been felt by the government in the implementation of various welfare schemes.
‘Increase revenue’
The government should make use of the Advisory Council attached to municipal bodies for want of elected panchayats and its decision on revision of taxes should be implemented. The municipalities had incurred losses because of irregular collection of taxes particularly from cable TV operators.
The government had come out with information that there were more than 1 lakh households who were paying taxes under the Swacch Bharat scheme. However, only 15,000 households had been projected as having cable TV connections.
This was incorrect and a real survey must be conducted on the number of connections so that the revenue of ₹8 crore could be ensured.
Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar must go into the issue and take action against the officials who had given wrong information about the number of households with cable TV connections.
