The All India NR Congress government led by Chief Minister N Rangasamy has made four more political appointments, three persons to head quasi government bodies and one to liaison with the Central government in New Delhi.
Creating a new post of Special Representative of Government of Puducherry in New Delhi for the first time, the government has appointed legal advisor to the party A Bakthavachalam to the post, according to the orders issued by the government last evening.
Though the terms and conditions of the appointment are yet to be specified, this special appointment has been made to speed up the movement of files sent from Puducherry to the respective departments. Puducherry being a Union territory, most of the major decisions and implementation of schemes and programmes require approval by the Central government. Though there is a Resident Commissioner and two Joint Resident Commissioners of Puducherry government in New Delhi, the government has made this appointment following the footsteps of Tamil Nadu.
The special representative is, therefore, not only expected to pursue files but also keep abreast of the political decisions and changes in political scenarios and intimate and advise the government. In fact, Bakthavachalam fits this job profile perfectly due to his political background. He had been the Deputy Speaker in the Legislative Assembly after being elected on a Janatha Dal ticket from Ariyankuppam constituency and had also been the vice-president and legal advisor in P Kannan’s PMC party.
The government has also appeased some important partymen by appointing them in quasi-government bodies. N S Jaybal, former chairman of Oulgaret Municipality, has been appointed chairman of Pondicherry Engineering College Society, under which the government runs two engineering colleges, Pondicherry Engineering College and Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Institute of Technology at Karaikal.
Though Jayabal, who had been a close associate of Chief minister Rangasamy, was not given the ticket for party’s internal political considerations. However, now he has been rewarded with the chairman’s post.
Another two party members Raghu alias Munusamy from Villianur and Udhaykumar from Karaikal have been appointed chairman of Pondicherry Market Committee and Karaikal Market Committee respectively.
The government has also recommended the appointment of party treasurer Velmurugan as chairman of Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, party members Rajesh as chairman of Pondicherry Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) and Suresh as chairman of PAJANCOA, Karaikal.
Earlier the government had appointed partymen ashead of corporations, boards and societies and textile mills.
With most of the public sector undertakings running in losses, the appointments are going to be an additional financial burden on the government. At a time when government is facing financial constraints, the question arises if the government should be going for it?