Former Puducherry Chief Minister and Congress veteran V. Narayanasamy said the recent south zonal conference of Chief Ministers and Governors in Tirupati had failed to produce any constructive outcome or commitment to the demands raised by the Union Territory.
Addressing a virtual media conference, Mr. Narayanasamy said that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah who chaired the conference had not responded to any of the proposals put forth by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.
Pointing out that the fiscal health of the Union Territory was in a dire state, Mr. Narayanasamy said even with this being the case, there had been no positive response from Mr. Shah to the plea for higher Central grants to implement the Centrally-sponsored schemes in Puducherry. “The Centre is mobilising revenue from the Union Territory on several fronts and proportionately the government was entitled to receive ₹3,200 crore. However, only about ₹1,720 crore was provided as Budgetary allocation. This went to show that the Centre is neglecting the development of Puducherry,” Mr. Narayanasamy claimed.
Even on the plea for Statehood raised by the Chief Minister and plea for inclusion of the Union Territory in the Central Finance Commission, the chair remained mum, he claimed.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election campaign catch-phrase that the NDA, if voted to power, would ensure that Puducherry emerged as the BEST hub (business, education, spirituality and tourism), Mr. Narayanasamy alleged that far from taking any steps to make it ‘BEST’ Puducherry, the place was turning into ‘worst’ Union Territory since the AINRC-BJP government assumed office.
In short, nothing had changed as far as the plight of Puducherry was concerned, he said.
The Congress leader also said the Puducherry Home Minister A Namassivayam submitting a separate memorandum to Mr. Shah instead of making a joint submission with Mr. Rangasamy, exposed the lack of cohesion in the NDA administration.
Alleging that Mr. Rangasamy was announcing welfare dole on a piecemeal basis to salvage his ‘populist reputation’, Mr. Narayanasamy claimed that several of the Chief Minister’s key promises, including raising the wages of breakfast scheme workers, had not been fulfilled.
