Pondicherry: Chief Minister of Pondicherry N. Rangasamy has asserted that no region of the Union Territory would be neglected as his government intended to ensure balanced development of all the four regions and to make Pondy a model State in the country.

Felicitating R. Radhakrishnan and A.V. Sreedharan on the floor of the House on Thursday after their unanimous elections to the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, the Chief Minister said that the previous government (which was also headed by Mr. Rangasamy) evolved plans to ensure balanced development of the State. Karaikal was specifically taken care of then and the commitment would continue without break.

Referring to the complaints made earlier by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislator V.M.C. Sivakumar and an Independent member A. Marimuthu (both elected from Karaikal region) that Karaikal had been neglected in development programmes, the Chief Minster said that there could be no room for such a grievance, as his government was committed. Giving some statistics in support of his claim that Karaikal was making rapid progress, the Chief Minster said that sustained steps taken by the previous government had resulted in students of Karaikal registering an increase of eight per cent pass percentage in Plus Two public examination this year.

Mr. Rangasamy said speedy assistance was extended to farmers without delay whenever natural calamities hit Karaikalregion.

A fishing harbour was also sanctioned to meet the requirements of fishermen there. The government spent Rs.62 crore in Karaikal to meet the situation caused by the tsunami in December 2004.

A project for promoting Karaikal as a temple town had also been taken up with an outlay of Rs.105 crore, available from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).

Underground drainage

The underground drainage scheme with an outlay of Rs.30 crore was another project the government had evolved out of the funds available from HUDCO. Mr. Rangasamy who referred to the chief qualities of the new speaker and Deputy Speaker also assured them that there would be positive cooperation from all members in the House to ensure smooth conduct of the House.

Both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker acknowledged gratefully the felicitations extended to them by the Chief Minister and all others who spoke earlier. The House adjourned sine die after transacting the scheduled business.

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