Puducherry: Why is Rangasamy not presenting full budget, asks former CM Former Puducherry CM 

PUDUCHERRY: Former Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy on Saturday demanded Chief Minister N Rangasamy explain to the public why the Union Territory was not presenting a full-fledged Budget, despite an AINRC-BJP coalition government.

The former CM said, when Rangasamy was opposition leader, he was critical of  the Congress-DMK government for not presenting a full budget before the beginning of the financial year. Now, the current Chief Minister's NDA government has not done so, he told the media.

Narayanasamy said that despite his efforts as chief minister, he could not present the full Budget due to intervention from then Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and trouble from the Central BJP government, due to political motives. The Senior Congress leader asked whether there was any strain in the AINRC-BJP alliance or if the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre returned the Budget proposal, or if the local BJP was preventing the move.

The government could not disburse salaries of employees of the Puducherry Technological University, Anganwadi workers, and PSUs like PRTC and PTDC. They are demanding the disbursement of their dues, he said.  "The present government has not launched new schemes, but  is implementing the schemes from the previous Congress-DMK government. Further, the 20 kg of free rice scheme to the poor -- implemented by the previous Congress government through Direct Benefit Transfer-- had been halted, due to the insistence of the former L-G Bedi.

He further added, the middle-class is suffering because of the power tariff hike, and the prices will go up further after the privatisation of electricity distribution in the UT by the Centre. The Congress strongly opposes the move and is prepared to move the Court against the privatisation.