PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Lt Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan unfurled the national flag on the occasion of 73rd Republic day at Gandhi Thidal on Beach Road, at a low key function on Wednesday along with Chief Minister N Rangasamy and his cabinet colleagues.
Leader of Opposition R Siva, Speaker of territorial Assembly R Selvam, French Consul General in Puducherry Lise Talbot Barré, MLAs and other senior officials were also present.
Arriving in Puducherry after attending the Republic day function at Telangana she hoisted the national flag nine minutes after the scheduled time of 9 am. She inspected a guard of Honour, presented awards and medals and took salute to march past by various contingents. A brief cultural program was presented during the ceremony.
The Lt Governor presented the President’s Police medal for meritorious service to Superintendent of Police R Mohan Kumar, Sub-inspectors of police P Bhaskaran and V Soundarsanane. She also gave away the Union Home Minister’s medal for excellence in police training to S Ezumalai a police constable and Lt Governor’s police medal for extraordinary service to M Suresh, Sub-Inspector of police (SI), K Pajanisamy, SI and S Soupramanien, Senior Grade Assistant Sub Inspector of police (SGASIP).
She also presented the Lt Governor’s commendation certificate for extraordinary services to five which include K Subraya Naidu, ASI, Rekadi Nageswara Rao, SGASI, A Nalini, SGASI, Subrahmanyeswara Rao, special grade head constable and V Thnarakeswari, women police constable.
Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Award to Scheduled Caste students who scored higher marks in the Higher Secondary public examination during 2021-22 in Puducherry region was presented to SA Harinie of St Joseph of Cluny Girls Higher Secondary School and M Agathiyan, Amalorpavam Higher Secondary and awards for meritorious service to differently-abled persons for the year 2021 instituted by the Social Welfare Department to R Venkatasubramanian.
During Republic day address, Soundarajan said that the Government of Puducherry is taking earnest steps for the overall development in the Union Territory. “There is no doubt that with the cooperation of the Central Government and the co-operation of the people, this government will march towards further development," she said.
Exhorting people to continue their support for the fight against COVID-19 by getting themselves vaccinated and following the Covid-19 safety protocols, Soundarajan said that with the cooperation of the public Covid pandemic could be gotten rid of in its entirety. The COVID adversity was converted into an opportunity to bring in a vast improvement to the health and medical infrastructure in Puducherry, she added.
Speaking about the development projects, she said, "The Government is working diligently to develop tourism infrastructure in Puducherry. Steps are being taken to improve road, rail, ferry and air transport facilities. Work for expansion of Puducherry Airport has been expedited. In Puducherry, efforts are being made to promote spiritual tourism, medical tourism, educational tourism and nature tourism. Five beaches have been upgraded with features to attract tourists. Moreover, the Port is being developed for which 7.3 lakhs cubic meters of sand dredging work are going on under the Central Government’s ‘Sagarmala’ project to make the harbour navigable."
The dredged sand dumped on the coast has created a sandy beachfront, she said. At the same time industrial development is being promoted for increasing employment opportunities and economic development in the UT, she added.
In order to meet the growing demand for electricity in the rural areas of Puducherry and Karaikal, a project is being implemented for Rs. 20.05 crore. The Centre has announced a restructured power supply plan, which will ensure uninterrupted and quality power supply to all consumers, she said.
Steps are being taken to obtain financial assistance from the National Cooperative Development Corporation to upgrade cooperative stores to supermarkets in Pondicherry and Karaikal regions. Through the Puducherry Co-operative Building Center, it is proposed to distribute sand to the beneficiaries of the ‘Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana’, Soundararajan added.
To address the shortfall in the sand for construction, a license has been obtained from the Revenue Department to use the quarry on the Manamedu Thenpennai River for sand mining. For safe travel of women, a “Vehicle Traffic Monitoring Center” has been set up at the Transport Department premises to help women travel safely in public transport at a cost of Rs. 4.60 crore. It is being constructed under the “Nirbhaya” project, she mentioned.
The government is always concerned in the welfare of the people and gave high priority to the development of agriculture, animal husbandry which are the backbone of the rural economy, she said listing various schemes for agriculture, fish production, Adi Dravidar Welfare, Scheduled Tribe, Backward Classes, housing and other sections of society, “Under the Scheduled Caste Sub-plan for the current financial year Rs. 165.44 crore has been allocated," she said.
Later Chief Minister N Rangasamy hoisted the national flag at Puducherry Legislative assembly premises on the occasion of Republic day.