NE NEWS SERVICE
PUDUCHERRY, AUG 17
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has charged Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi with being responsible for the crisis in the Anglo-French Textile (AFT) Mill, popularly known as Rodier Mill, here.
Addressing reporters on virtual mode on Monday, he said the territorial government had initiated several steps and even allocated funds every year to the AFT Mill to take care of its employees. He said the government had set up a one-man committee when the mill faced crisis two years ago to recommend steps to make the factory come out of the red.
“But, Bedi was bent on closing the more-than-century old mill,” he said, while citing the six-day-long dharna he, his cabinet colleagues and MLAs staged outside the Raj Nivas in February last year. Naryanasamy said a committee led by Chief Secretary was contemplated to go into the working of the AFT Mill and also the Swadeshi Cotton Mill and Sri Bharathi Mills, all government undertakings. This decision was also rejected by Bedi, he said.
Financial commitments to settle the statutory claims of the mill workers could be met by disposing of its land in neighbouring Pattanur village or by obtaining bank loans, he said and added that the Central government was also informed of the proposal to sell the land. Nothing was heard from the Centre, he said.
The Lieutenant Governor had written to the Centre that the AFT Mill should be closed and disapproved of the decision of the government to run the mill, the Chief Minister said. “We will again write to the Centre to ensure that the mill continues to function,” he said.
The issue once again stirs up the turf war between Bedi and Narayanasamy, which has been going on since she assumed the Lt Governor’s post in the Union Territory. All along the two have been blaming each other over matters related to governance.
