PUDUCHERRY: Legislative Assembly Speaker R Selvam directed officials to expedite development works across all constituencies in the Union Territory through the Local Administration Department on Tuesday.
Delivering his opening remarks at the Assurance Committee meeting related to the local government department held in the Puducherry Assembly, the Speaker announced that a high-level meeting will be convened within a week. Chief Secretary Sarath Chauhan and other senior officials are expected to attend the meeting.
Emphasising administrative efficiency, Selvam stated that both the local administration department and the cooperative department are empowered to make decisions at the secretary level.
Senior MLA AMH Nazim from DMK pointed out that inter-departmental approvals are often unnecessary. Supporting this view, MLA R Senthilkumar added that such delays mostly occur when files related to Local Area Development funds are routed through other departments. He suggested that these funds be incorporated directly into relevant departmental schemes to speed up execution.
The session was attended by MLAs T Sivashankar, Anibal Kennedy, Naga Thiagarajan, U Lakshmikanthan, and PML. Kalyanasundaram. Government Secretary Kesavan, Local Government Director Sakthivel, Municipal Commissioners Kandasamy and Sureshraj, along with other senior officials, were also present.