The video conferencing by Lt. Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi to listen to the grievances of the residents of Karaikal district has facilitated the district administration to understand various problems faced by not only the residents but also by the departments.
At the weekly event of video conferencing, Ms. Kiran Bedi listened to the grievances of eight persons of the district. But it was a woman resident who stole the show.
She pleaded for waiver of a loan of Rs.10,000 sanctioned to her about a decade ago by the Union Territory government towards construction of a house. She said that she had been sent reminder letters from the Housing Board insisting on immediate repayment of the loan, lest penal action should be initiated against her.
“Her petition prompted us to gather further details about its veracity, as we did not have any clear idea about the nature of the scheme under which she had got the loan a decade ago,” an official told The Hindu at the end of the video conferencing.
The officials understood that a non-plan scheme had been implemented during 2004 for providing both house site pattas and a loan of Rs. 40,000 towards construction of the houses to the economically weaker sections.
“As it was a temporary scheme, there was no follow-up during the consecutive financial years. But, the Housing Board was now insisting on repayment of the loan,” the official said.
“In fact, the petition has facilitated us to conduct a survey for ascertaining the exact number of beneficiaries who had taken the loan from the government for construction of houses. We would also ascertain whether the beneficiaries had fully utilised the loan,” the official said.
The Lt. Governor advised the officials to ensure follow up action on the petition.
P. Parthiban, District Collector, R. Kesavan, Sub-Collector, Shantha Williams, Joint Director of Planning, S.J. Chandran, Senior Superintendent of Police, Shanmugasundaram, Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department and Gandhirajan, Municipal Commissioner, were present.
