Bright days ahead for Puducherry govt: CM

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Wednesday claimed that bright days were ahead for the Union Territory as all the difficulties caused by the Centre and Lt Governor Kiran Bedi would come to an end before February.

Striking an optimistic note, he said all the current hindrances and difficulties were only transient and not permanent.

Declaring open a government branch library and a panchayat office in Poornankuppam village, he said, "the Narendra Modi headed government is using Bedi as a medium to cause trouble and hindrances to the territorial government on several counts."

Narayanasamy, who has been at loggerheads with Bedi on various issues, however asked the people of the Union Territory to wait for some time as "bright days were ahead and all the sufferings the government was facing would disappear."

He said, "normally the influence of 'sani' (saturn) would be for a brief period only and similarily the present sufferings faced by the government would become a thing of the past."

On the implementation of free rice scheme in the Union Territory, he said he would move the court to challenge the intervention of the Union Home Ministry and the Lt Governor in the matter.

"While the territorial government wanted distribution of rice to card holders through the public distribution system without modification of the scheme, the Centre and Bedi had been insisting that the beneficiaries should only be given cash equivalent of the quantum of rice through bank accounts," he said.

The poor families particularly in rural areas want only rice and not cash as once cash payment is adopted the amount would be credited to the bank accounts of the heads of the families and women would be deprived of the benefit.

Narayanasamy charged the Lt Governor with acting contrary to the stand of the Assembly and the cabinet on modalities for implementing the rice scheme.

He also said that the Union Home Ministry and Lt Governor had also been intervening in the posting of State Election Commissioner while an official has already been posted as per the decision of the Assembly.

Narayanasamy also said the Local Administration Minister A Namassivayam would file a case against the intervention of Home Ministry and Lt Governor into the posting of SEC for conducting civic polls here.

He claimed that no other State orUnion Territory in the country has witnessed intervention by a Governor or Lt Governor in the routine administration as had been seen in the Puducherry now.