PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Deputy speaker M N R Balan on Tuesday urged the union government to re-call the Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi or to dissolve the elected government in the UT.
Briefing news persons , he said that in a bid to ensure that the poor people are not affected because of the lock down, the union government provided five kilograms of rice and one kilogram of dal for a member in a family for one month.
Puducherry received the order on March 30, but officials took no steps to procure the rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI), said Balan. However on April 1 officials informed that rice is not available and the file pertaining to this need to be sent to the Lt. Governor and the provision of cash instead of rice is being considered.
Balan posed several questions such as to why the supply was delayed in Puducherry though the central government directed to supply rice immediately and the file in this regard was kept pending for ten days.. “ Who is responsible for this ?”,he asked
After much delay rice was procured and on Sunday the rice was loaded in Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses instead of lorries ( which has more space ) and demanded to know the reason for this . As a result in several constituencies, the food grains are yet to be distributed .
Demanding the intervention of the prime minister and Home Minister on the issue, Balan urged them either to re-call Bedi or dissolve the Puducherry government as there is no meaning in having an elected government in the UT, which cannot act in the interest of the people .