SHILLONG, NOV 6: The committee on public accounts of Puducherry today said that it would urged the Centre government to also extend similar funding pattern to the union territory as was done for Meghalaya and other North East states.
Speaking to reporters after an interaction session with the state Assembly’s PAC chairman Paul Lyngdoh here on Monday, Puducherry legislature’s PAC chairman R Siva said they may also put before the Centre that the same be extended to the union territory.
“We have come to know that here the Government of India is providing 90 per cent funding to the state but it is not extending this help to us in Puducherry which is also facing financial crisis,” Siva said.
Currently, the Centre government is extending only 30 per cent grant and 70 per cent is loan to Puducherry, which is one of the seven union territories in the country, he said.
The nine-member delegation led by Shiva and the chairman of the Estimates Committee A Anbalagan arrived in the state capital to study on the functioning of the Public Accounts Committee and Estimates Committee in Meghalaya.
Lauding the initiative of the state government in helping the poor people through livelihood support, Siva also invited the PAC and Committee on Estimates to visit Puducherry and see the livelihood and economic status of the people.
On the other hand, Anbalagan said that there seems to be discrimination in the implementation of the central government schemes in the state.
“We notice here that the down trodden in the rural villages are not fully developed, there is no toilet facilities, no proper drinking water and people seems to be living under below poverty line (BPL),” he said.
The chairman of the Pudcherry’s Committee on Estimates was of the view that development like roads, power and others has to be implemented equally and uniformly to all the people.
“The Government of India should pay more attention to poverty alleviation in tribal areas but it seems that the government is not interested,” he said while adding that such discrimination is not required in a multi-faceted dimension.
He also urged the state government to bring this to the notice of the Centre and device scheme in such way for the people in the tribal areas.
Citing the living condition of the people in major cities like Mumbai, he said that the people’s livelihood has improved a lot but unfortunately the same is not being done in this part of the country.
Anbalagan further urged the state government to create awareness among the people of the state on the ills of using tobacco products.
Earlier during the interaction session, state assembly PAC chairman Paul Lyngdoh highlighted before the delegation on the achievements of the PAC in the last five years.
“Some of the projects which required the attention of the PAC include the abattoir in Shillong and Jowai. In both the cases it is because of the intervention of the PAC that these projects now could see the light of day,” he said.
He said with regards to the abattoir at Jowai, it was revealed to the committee that the contractor and a firm had been paid Rs 2 crore in 2012 and the same when the PAC visited the site found that barely Rs 7 lakh was utilized for the project.
According to him, today 90 per cent of the work for the project has been executed and this was due to the regular follow up of the PAC which directed the department concerned to submit a monthly progress report.
Lyngdoh informed that the delegation was also briefed about the Shillong Airport which had faced unnecessary hurdles because of the lackadaisical attitude of the state government in identifying rightful owners leading to delays due to court cases.
By Our Reporter
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