PUDUCHERYY: Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Monday assured the territorial Assembly that his government was committed to ameliorate the lot of farmers.
He was intervening in the House when members belonging to the opposition DMK and Independent member PR Siva wanted the government to expedite sanction of crop of loans and also open paddy procurement centres particularly in Karaikal during inconclusive debate on the budget for 2021-2022.
The budget was presented to the House by Chief Minister, who holds the Finance portfolio on August 26. Rangasamy said, "My government is pro-farmers and we are aware of the woes of the ryots particularly in the context of damage to crops during the recent rains and squally weather.
There was a plea from the opposition DMK and independent member PR Siva that the government should ensure that the crop insurance scheme for the farmers should be expeditiously implemented. AMH Nazim (DMK) said paddy procurement centres were not available in Karaikal region.
He wanted the government to ensure that the centres were opened without delay. Speaker R Selvam told the members that the Chief Minister was fully aware of the welfare of the farmers and would take all steps to mitigate the sufferings of farmers.
Agriculture Minister C Djeacour told the members that he had called for report from the Department of Agriculture on the total number of farmers who had applied for crop insurance and would spare no steps to speedily process the applications to benefit farmers.
The opposition DMK leader R Siva and his party colleagues Annibal Kennedy and Nazim wanted the government to strengthen the fiscal position of the government. They also contended that the government should hold talks with the Centre to procure sufficient funds.
Kennedy wanted the government to ensure that Puducherry was included in the Central Finance Commission so that there would be enhanced allocation of grants to Puducherry at the rate available for other States.
PWD Minister K Lakshminarayanan told the House that the fiscal position was looking up and tourism sector was contributing a lot to the Exchequer. "As much as Rs 8 lakh had been realised from tourism sector on a day on Sunday because of flow of tourists into Puducherry," he said.
Home Minister Namassivayam said that an amount of Rs 350 crore that was outstanding to Puducherry under GST had been granted by the Centre. "The amount has already come to us," he added. Earlier, the House passed the Puducherry Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill tabled by the Chief Minister.