PUDUCHERRY: Amidst a boycott by the entire opposition and the absence of the DMK, the Puducherry Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to grant full statehood to the Union territory. Only ruling Congress members and the lone independent member were present in the House. This is the 10th such resolution adopted by the Puducherry Assembly over the years since 1987.
Moving the resolution, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said that both from the administrative and financial aspects, statehood is a must for the implementation of welfare and developmental schemes in the UT. He said in the last four-and-a-half years, in spite of availability of funds, welfare schemes could not be implemented as the Lt Governor with the support of officials stalled the schemes devised by the elected government.
In a democracy, the government elected by the people should have full powers as it is answerable to the people, but in certain cases the administrator nominated by the Centre in the UT has been acting against democratic norms by misusing powers. “Without properly understanding the Union Territories Act and its spirit and presuming that only a person appointed by the central government can rule is detrimental not only to democracy but also to federalism. Such an event against the sovereignty of India and the will of the people can never be accepted,” said the Chief Minister.
In terms of finances, the central government has previously provided more than 80 per cent of the budget as grants for the Union Territory. But that fund has been gradually reduced on the basis of Puducherry being a Union territory with legislature and now only 20 per cent of the amount is being provided by the central government after the opening of the separate account for Puducherry. “Therefore, Puducherry is facing a severe financial crisis as the UT is not able to get the funds that are legally due to it. But if Puducherry is given state status, the central government will give a 41 per cent grant, just like other states,” he said.
Detailing the quantum of finance Puducherry should have received from the Centre in the last four years, Narayanasamy said the Union territory has been cheated by getting Rs 3,139.96 crore less in the last four years. If Puducherry had been given state status, it might have received this fund legally through the Central Finance Commission(CFC). As a result, the financial crisis in Puducherry could have been significantly reduced.
In the implementation of centrally sponsored schemes and central sector schemes (CSS) also, the grants for Puducherry have been reduced to only 60 percent in a similar way to states. He charged that the central government is adopting a 'double standard' on Puducherry by considering it a Union territory while allocating annual grants and GST and a state while implementing CSS. Hence, to change the situation, Puducherry needs statehood, he added.
Revenue Minister MOHF Shajahan suggested that the UT act should be amended by replacing "Administration means Administrator" with "Administration means Council of Ministers”, which will give full powers to the elected government.
Agriculture Minister R Kamalakannan said that the situation is such that electoral promises could not be fulfilled by the elected government due to the hurdles posed by the Lt Governor. Hence Puducherry is seeing a unique situation of the council of ministers having to resort to agitations in public interest on the road against the Lt Governor, who is not respecting even court orders, he said.
Narayanasamy also flayed the opposition parties for their failure to participate in the resolution as they do not want a good name for this government.