Puducherry CM N Rangasamy reiterates plea for statehood

PUDUCHERRY: Reiterating the plea for statehood for Puducherry, Chief Minister N Rangasamy today said he would apprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the matter.

"I will persuade the Prime Minister to concede the demand of Puducherry for statehood so that the state government would be able to take decisions on various matters without delay and implement them expeditiously," Rangasamy told reporters on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of his party AINRC's formation.

He said he was leaving for Delhi later in the day to participate in the meeting convened by the Prime Minister with the Chief Ministers of all States.

Government had decided to pay Rs 300 per family through bank accounts instead of ten kg free rice available against ration cards. The new modified system of the free rice scheme would be available retrospectively from October last to all families in Puducherry and Karaikal holding ration cards, he said.

A total of 3.37 lakh families in Puducherry and Karaikal would be benefitted and government would spend Rs nine crore a month for disbursement of money through bank accounts. The residents of Mahe and Yanam would, however, continue to get the ten kg free rice every month.

A thermal plant with an installed capacity to generate 650 kilowatt would be set up in Karaikal in addition to creation of infrastructure for solar power generation there.

Students, who had passed the plus two course in the last academic year, would be handed free laptops by the end of March this year, he said.

Medical assistance, under a scheme of the Health Department to enable critically ill patients to take treatment in specialty hospitals outside Puducherry, had been raised with immediate effect from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs two lakh.

With a view to attracting investors to promote industrial activities in the Union Territory, government would make use of the sprawling site in Sedarapet and Karasur blocks.