Other States - Puducherry   

Differences in Puducherry Congress surface again

PUDUCHERRY: Differences in the Puducherry unit of the Congress came to the fore again on Thursday with three Ministers justifying the decision to seek expert opinion of the Central Vigilance Commission’s technical wing on the construction of the government medical college and the territorial unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) flaying the “evil forces which tried to stall the project.”

Addressing a press conference, Minister for Agriculture and Power V. Vaithilingam, Health Minister E. Valsaraj and Education Minister M.O.H.F. Shahjahan said a three-member Ministerial panel to go into the issues relating to the construction of the Puducherry Kamarajar Medical College and Research Institute was constituted only as per a decision of the Cabinet.

Since the panel wanted to get expert opinion before submitting its report to the Cabinet, it had sought the help of the technical wing of the vigilance commission, they pointed out.

Replying to a query, Mr.Valsaraj said the construction activities at the medical college site did not continue, owing to funds crunch. Mr. Vaithilingam said there was a 10 per cent to 15 per cent drop in the allocation of funds for different sectors.

However, the Chief Minister had promised to take steps to fill the gap, he added.

The Ministers said they were much concerned about the law and order situation in Puducherry.

Recalling that the Lieutenant Governor had also urged the government a few days ago to take necessary steps to ensure maintenance of law and order, Mr.Vaithilingam said priority should be given to ensure the safety of the people against the backdrop of increasing crimes such as murder. The police should be activated to curb the negative trend, he said.

The police, who had not taken steps to book the accused in criminal cases, had shown urgency in filing first information reports in the cases against Mr.Valsaraj and Mr.Shahjahan without giving them an opportunity to explain their position, he alleged.

But both the Ministers had faced the cases “calmly,” giving due respect to the independence of judiciary. They had been exonerated from the charges now, Mr.Vaithilingam added.

The petitions against the Ministers and the police action in these cases a few days ahead of the Assembly session indicated that there was some motive behind the move, Mr.Vaithilingam said, adding that Chief Minister N. Rangasamy adopted a positive approach by asking the police to expedite action, though the allegations were made against his Cabinet colleagues.

Describing their relations with the Chief Minister as “very cordial,” the Ministers denied any difference of opinion with him.

Addressing a meeting at the Pradesh Congress Committee office, NSUI’s unit president S.Samraj said the activists of the union would stage a protest before the Chief Secretariat and burn the effigy of those who had been “attempting to scuttle” the medical college project which would benefit students belonging to economically weaker sections.

Secretary of the NSUI Vishal Sinha, who also addressed the activists, said the Union Territory should have a government medical college in addition to the Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research.

PCC chief A.V. Subramanian appealed to the NSUI activists to reach out to the people to highlight the programmes implemented by the United Progressive Alliance government.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Scheme will be drawn up to help HIV children, says Rangasamy
“200 AIDS victims died in the last 20 years”
Political parties slam hike in fuel prices
Enhancing teachers’ skills, making students spontaneous
Fishermen stage protest
Bootlegger arrested
Differences in Puducherry Congress surface again

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu