Karaikal Union Territory Struggle Group (KUTSG) met the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Iqbal Singh on Friday to demand Union Territory status for Karaikal. A five-member team led by A.S.T. Ansari Babu, General Secretary, also put forth a charter of other demands and sought the Lieutenant Governor’s intervention to ‘redeem’ the status of Karaikal.
The KUTSG slammed the ‘second-class status’ accorded to Karaikal and alleged that people from Karaikal are consciously ignored for government posts under the Puducherry government.
The KUTSG also alleged irregularities in the appointment of persons from Puducherry for the vacant posts of Group-D in the department of Animal Husbandry, ignoring candidates from Karaikal. The memorandum has called for the revocation of the government order that has appointed persons from Puducherry in the department of Animal Husbandry in Karaikal. Puducherry government has not reconstituted Waqf Boards that have remained vacant for the past few years. The KUTSG has sought the Lieutenant Governor’s intervention for immediate reconstitution of these Boards.
The memorandum has requested for the constitution of Religious endowments for Sri Kailasanathar Temple, Sri Nithya Kalyana Perumal Devasthanam and other temples of Karaikal. Individual administration of temples should be abolished, they said.
Crop loans for farmers affected by Nisha cyclone should be written off and efforts be taken to encourage alternate crop cultivation. Additionally, the memorandum has demanded filling of vacancies at the Karaikal government hospital. The government should set up a National Industrial Park in Karaikal.
Karaikal should be accorded the status of a Union Territory and be brought under the administrative control of New Delhi to ensure its growth and development. This should be ensured irrespective of the status of Puducherry as a state or a Union Territory.V.S. Nalluswamy, Vice-President; S. Radhkrishnan, Treasurer, R. Sundaraj, Deputy Secretary; Ranjan, member; A. A. Rahman, Press Information Officer; were among those present.
