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Puducherry seeks Rs. 150-crore aid

PUDUCHERRY: The territorial administration has sought a sum of Rs.150 crore as ‘additional Central assistance’ from the Union government, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said on Tuesday.

“The Centre has promised to provide Rs. 85 crore as assistance. We have requested them to increase the amount to Rs. 150 crore,” he told reporters on his arrival from New Delhi after attending the Planning Commission meeting.

Normally, the Centre released 10 per cent of the Annual Plan amount as ‘additional Central assistance’ to Puducherry. This time, the administration had appealed to the Centre not to stick to the norm and allocate more funds, he said.

Terming his discussion with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia “fruitful,” Mr Rangasamy said the administration was satisfied with the Plan size of Rs. 1,750 crore for 2008-09 announced by the Commission on Monday.

The government would give priority to social sector development with higher allocations for drinking water projects, road development, education and health care services, Mr. Rangasamy said.

A team of officials from the Union Territory administration was in Delhi to hold talks with members of the Planning Commission to finalise sector-wise allocation of the Plan fund.

The Chief Minister said the government had constituted a committee with Health, Education and Tourism Ministers as members to study the report submitted by a Central agency on the medical college project.

The agency had estimated that the project would cost around Rs. 850 crore, he said, adding that one of the tasks entrusted to the committee was to study the economic cost involved in the project. On whether the medical college would start functioning from the next academic year as planned earlier, he said, “The government is striving to complete the work before that.”

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