Puducherry: A Bill to amend the Pondicherry District Planning Committee Act 1994 was introduced in Puducherry Assembly on Friday. The Chief Minister N. Rangasamy tabled it on behalf of the Local Administration Minister Malladi Krishna Rao. The House will have a debate on the Bill on Monday

The Bill seeks to constitute one Planning Committee, with a total strength of 15 members, for Pondicherry and Karaikal districts. It also redefines the term "district" as a "revenue district", and envisages that each of these two committees will have Chief Minister as its ex-officio chairman, while the Director of Local Administration Department will be the Secretary.

When the District Planning Committee Act was brought into force in 1994 the term "district" meant the whole of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. It then comprised all the four regions of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam in its jurisdiction.

But the unitary district of Pondicherry was bifurcated on May 26, 2005 bringing into existence two districts namely Pondicherry district (comprising Pondicherry, Mahe and Yanam regions) and Karaikal district (comprising Karaikal only). The committees will consolidate the plans prepared by the village panchayats, commune panchayat councils and the municipal councils, and prepare draft development plans for their respective districts.

The "statement of objects and reasons" of the Bill pointed out that the Bill sought to revise composition of the committees by treating the Members of Parliament, Members of Assembly, chairpersons of the commune panchayat councils and municipal councils, Secretaries to Finance and Planning Departments and experts as nominated by the Government as "permanent special invitees", as was done in the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

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