Quantum of Central aid disappointing, says former MP
The Hindu
Centre has taken the Union Territory for granted: M. Ramadass
Former Member of Parliament M. Ramadass on Saturday said the announcement of Union Minister of State for Finance in the Lok Sabha that Puducherry would be granted Central assistance of ₹1,724.77 crore during the current financial year as compared to that of ₹1,698 crore in the last fiscal was “disappointing.” Mr. Ramadass, in a statement, said the quantum increase of ₹26.77 crore was “disappointing, unjustified and unacceptable”. “The Centre has taken the Union Territory for granted and no norm, leave alone scientific principles, had been adopted to decide the quantum of assistance. There is brazen violation of the celebrated cannons of fiscal devolution. The rudimentary test of soundness of assistance is that the current year assistance should at least be more than that of the previous year,” he said. As per the statement given by the Minister in the Lok Sabha, the increase in allocation last fiscal was ₹159 crore and 10.26% of the previous year. Now, the increase in allocation had been reduced to ₹26.77 crore. The annual inflation rate was about 6% and the population rate of the region was 2.2% per annum and the rate of assistance this year (1.58%) is less than both rates, Mr. Ramadass said.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.