Chief Minister N Rangasamy urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to provide adequate assistance for the development of the UT, when he called on them at New Delhi on Monday.
The CM, who is in New Delhi for finalisation of plan allocation for the fiscal year of 2012-2013, later also called on Sonia Gandhi and the PM, an official release said here Tuesday.
Rangasamy also formally informed them of the support of his party - All India NR Congress - to the UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
Rangasamy also met Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy and the Union Minister of Power Sushil Kumar Shinde and urged them to provide more natural gas for the power plant at Karaikal which is operated by Puducherry Government.
During the meeting with Planning Commission, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia applauded the achievements made by the government of Puducherry in fields of education, health and tourism.
The Planning Commission appreciated UT administration for accruement in revenue collection through tax, said a release. The Commission also advised the UT on the need to focus on finding new ways of revenue generation to meet future demands. It was pointed out that tourism and infrastructure are the areas which need special attention of the government and Public Private Partnership (PPP) in these sectors has to be encouraged.
The Commission suggested that Puducherry needs to develop a comprehensive plan for a speedy, sustainable and inclusive growth, which is suited to local needs and resources.
It was asked to create a policy framework to increase PPP to overcome public sector resource constraint. The Commission also asked the government to keep a check on the rate of population growth in the UT which has increased from 20.62 per cent in 1991-2001 to 27.72 per cent in 2001-11.
Attention was also drawn to the decline of the shares of agriculture and industrial sectors in the Union Territory’s economy whereas the share of service sector has only marginally increased.