Fully endorsing the demand for Statehood for Puducherry, former Member of Parliament M. Ramadass has urged the government to appoint an expert committee drawn from the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, to prepare a feasibility report for Statehood.
The economist-turned parliamentarian, in a statement, said attaining Statehood status required sustained scientific and systematic work on the part of the government and political parties.
The government should first constitute an expert committee drawn from NIPFP to find whether the contemporary Puducherry would sustain economically in the case of getting Statehood. The mandate of the committee should also be to find modalities to deal with four geographically, culturally and linguistically separate segments and to form a single organically linked State in post Statehood scenario.
Also, the committee should examine whether granting of Statehood would contravene the provisions of the International Treaty of Accession signed on May 28, 1956 between Government of India and France.
Along with the appointment of an expert committee, the government should gather reports on Statehood by Chari-Ramadass Committee and Sushma Swaraj Committee of Home Affairs. The government should prepare its own report based on the suggestions made by these committees for submission before Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Statehood of Puducherry was also linked to according the status to Delhi. So, the government should explore the possibility of engaging Delhi for a joint effort. After building up a consensus among political parties here, the government should depute an all-party delegation to the national capital to meet Prime Minister, Home Minister and leaders of political parties. A special session of the Assembly should be convened to pass a resolution demanding Statehood, he said.
“A full-fledged State symbolises a sacred democratic value system encompassing political, economic, social and cultural freedom of the people. The UT with a legislature depicts only a deficit in democracy restricting rights of the people and their representatives. But there is no need for any street fighting on the issue. The government should realise that it is only through concerted and continuous efforts and not through half-hearted and once in a while approach that the objective of Statehood can be accomplished,” Mr. Ramadass said.
