PUDUCHERRY: Former Lok Sabha member from Puducherry M Ramadass on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a commitment on granting statehood for Puducherry during his visit here on Thursday.
In a statement, Ramadass, an economist who had drafted the statehood document a few years back, said the continuance of the status of Union Territory with legislature throttles the democratic values, philosophy of people’s rule and the long cherished craving of the people of the Union territory.
Recalling the history of Puducherry, Ramdass said that Puducherry which joined the Indian union in 1954 from French rule was converted into a Union territory in 1963 and brought under the ambit of the Union Territory Act, 1963. This Act provided for a 30-member Assembly and a Council of Ministers. The Union territory is administered by the President of India through his representative, the Lieutenant Governor (LG), who is aided and assisted by the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers.
This governance model in recent times has escalated the friction and tension between the elected Chief Minister and the Lt Governor leading to animosities between them which hampered the growth process of the territory. The political class and the people tend to think that there is no need for election to the Assembly of the Union Territory which has no powers to rule. Some have even suggested the boycotting of the ensuing poll which is really unfortunate.
Several Union territories with Assemblies like Goa have graduated into states. Puducherry stands on the same footing as Goa and denial of such a status to Puducherry constitutes a grave political injustice to the territory, he said.
The Legislative Assembly, as the representative of the people, has passed 14 resolutions requesting the government of India to confer statehood on Puducherry but with no effect.
He pointed out that former Union home minister L K Advani in 1998 accepted in principle the demand to grant statehood to Puducherry. While answering a question of Dr Subramanian Swamy on the Union Territory status of Puducherry on July 10, 1998, Madan Lal Khurana, the then Parliamentary Affairs Minister, affirmed that the government of India is committed to grant statehood to Puducherry.
Stating that statehood was viable for Puducherry, he said that in 2005, the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the mature leadership of a tall BJP leader Sushma Swaraj visited Puducherry on June 18, 2005 and discussed the issue of statehood with the then Chief Minister N Rangasamy, other ministers, legislators and officials for about three days.
After analysing all aspects, the Committee recommended to the Centre to grant statehood with Special Category status. This report is also with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, but unfortunately the report was not acted upon, said Ramadass.
As a true democrat, the Prime Minister should realise the predicament of Puducherry and come forward to effect a transition in the status of the Union Territory into a state, he said. Stating that the Prime Minister is a champion of right causes, Ramadass said that he hopes that he would redress this long pending injustice by making a “positive statement” and gladden the hearts of Puducherrians.