Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, along with ministers, called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and sought his assistance to relieve the Union Territory of its financial crisis.
Mr. Narayanasamy urged the Union Home Minister to waive the legacy loans to the tune of Rs.2,177 crore and interest accrued. He also sought adequate rain-relief assistance besides inclusion of UT into the purview of Finance Commission.
The Chief Minister said a large number of retrenched workers and serving employees of Anglo French Textiles were awaiting disbursal of their statutory dues.
The Puducherry Government proposed to pay their dues by disposing of a land purchased by the company for workers’ housing which is located in Pattanur, Tamil Nadu. He requested the Union Home Minister to grant permission for disposal of the land to settle the dues. The delegation also sought clearance for the Rs. 2,120 crore water supply and sanitation project for Puduchrry and Karaikal, funded by Agence Française de Développement.
Later, Mr. Narayanasamy and the Ministers met Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpati Raju and sought immediate steps for the revival of air connectivity and expansion of the Puducherry Airport.
Talking to The Hindu , Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said, “We have requested the Union Civil Aviation Minister to start services from Puducherry to Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kochi and Tirupati. We also requested commencement of helicopter services between Puducherry- Karaikal and Puducherry- Chennai.”
Mr. Rao said the Union Minister assured the delegation that airline services would be resumed by October from Puducherry.
