Constitutional principles being violated in Puducherry, alleges former MP

Constitutional principles being violated in Puducherry, alleges former MP

Former Member of Parliament and president of Puducherry Maanila Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam M. Ramadass has said the recent landmark judgment of the Supreme Court on the conduct of Tamil Nadu Governor R.N Ravi has a bearing on Puducherry’s administrative matters.

The former MP, in a statement, said Justice Pardiwala, while closing the verdict, invoked the celebrated words of B.R. Ambedkar that a good Constitution might prove to be bad if those implementing it were not good. The statement appears to apply to the rulers of Puducherry, as the elected governments of the Union Territory (UT) have been consistently violating very important Constitutional provisions on elected local bodies, State Level Commission for Backward Classes, Education Act, and the setting up of Board of Governors of Puducherry Technological University, the MP said.

Article 40 of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy), Articles 243, 243 B, 243 E, 243G, 243 I, 243 K, the Constitution (Amendment) Act, and the Pondicherry Village and Commune Panchayat Act deal with local bodies at a village level. Similarly, other Articles mandate the existence of municipal councils. But the key provisions of the Constitution have been violated by successive rulers in the Union Territory for the last 14 years, he said.

“The third-tier elected government in Puducherry has been stalled for 14 years under one pretext or the other. A Commission, which was supposed to identify the backward classes ward wise within six months, has not completed the study even after an elapse of 40 months. While a similar work was completed in a State like Telangana in three months, it is prolonged for 40 months in a tiny territory, presumably with the intention of postponing the election. A good Constitution becomes bad in Puducherry,” he said.

The Constitution also mandates the setting up of a State Level Commission for Backward Classes but in the UT, such a permanent body was kept in the backburner from 2018. The Chairman and other members of the Commission have not been appointed so far. Another aberration was the failure to implement the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act and not setting up of Board of Governors of Puducherry Technological University, he said.

“These instances prove the statement of Ambedkar and at least the enlightened and law abiding among the rulers should respect the constitution and act accordingly,” the PMMMK leader said.