NE NEWS SERVICE
PUDUCHERRY, JULY 20
The turf war between Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy heightened on Monday with the latter presenting the Union Territory budget for 2020-21 ”without” her approval and customary address to the assembly.
Resp. @rashtrapatibhvn ,
People demand recall of @LGov_Puducherry @thekiranbedi as she continues to defy constitutional/democratic norms & undermine d mandate given by #Puducherry People to #Congress Govt.
Her child-like tantrums & misconduct are not befitting d office she holds. pic.twitter.com/SI29tWTISZ— Sanjay Dutt 🇮🇳 #JaiHind (@SanjaySDutt) July 20, 2020
Shortly after Narayasamy presented in the assembly the Rs 9,000 crore budget without any fresh tax after the House kept in abeyance the Lt Governor’s address, Bedi claimed the Chief Minister’s act was “illegal and irregular”, as doubts arose over her approval to the Finance Bill as once it is passed.
“I do not have the budget file approved by the President from the Chief minister… if there is delay in enforcing the budget it is the Chief Minister who is totally responsible.
What the Chief Minister is doing is totally illegal and irregular,” the former IPS officer said in a message to media. Bedi also said she did not know what grants were sanctioned in the budget, adding “It is like asking me to inaugurate a building without myself having any idea of the structure”. However, Narayanasamy, who presented the last full budget of the Congress government ahead of assembly elections due next year, maintained that the annual financial statement had been duly recommended by the UT Administrator (the Lt Governor) and approved by the President.
“There is therefore no infirmity of any rule or law and the approval of the Lt Governor for placing the budget before the Assembly does not arise and will be redundant.
This practice had been followed in the UT for many decades,” he said in a letter in response to Bedi’s missive on Sunday. The two, who have been at loggerheads over various issues in the last four years and had taken their issues to courts, exchanged letters overnight with Bedi deciding not to turn up to deliver the customary address marking start of a session, on grounds that the budget was not sent to her for approval, in a virtually unprecedented development.
The assembly had on March 30 passed the Vote on Account for meeting expenditures for the first three months of the new financial year. In her reply, Bedi said the budget is presented after the government firms up its proposed expenditure for the year. Therefore only after getting approval under the Union Territories Act 1963, the budget can be presented. “You are therefore requested to kindly send the file without further delay for laying the Annual Financial statement and the demand for grants before the assembly, for me to accord a considered approval and to give a fresh date for presenting the budget as well as for the inaugural address,” she wrote.
She also said “Our expenses, pensions and salaries from August would be affected. The blame is not to be put on Lt Governor or the Government of India. The blame will be entirely on the Chief Minister (for) holding back the file… If the chief Minister or any Minister alleges that the Lt Governor has delayed it is not true.” “I have not written the rules and the act. We have inherited the Union Territories Act and Business Rules. People should understand that the delay was not on her part and no false allegations should get traded,” she said.
Earlier, in his letter, the chief minister pointed out that “when the entire nation is fighting against COVID-19 it is time to stand united…” and any further delay in passing the budget would affect the fight against the virus. “I believe your good self would appreciate the facts and deliver your speech as scheduled and uphold the values of Constitution of India and spirit of democracy,” he had said.
When the assembly session began on Monday, Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister K Lakshminarayan moved a resolution requesting Speaker V P Sivakolundhu to keep in abeyance the address of the Lt Governor scheduled for the day. The Speaker announced that the Lt Governor’s address had been kept in abeyance and said the budget would be presented at 12.05 pm. Presenting his fifth budget, the Chief Minister, who holds the Finance portfolio, said the Centre had approved Rs 9,000 crore as budget estimate for 2020-21, of which the UT’s resources amounted to Rs 5,267 crore. The outlay would also include Rs 2,023 crore provided by the Centre under centrally-sponsored schemes (22 per cent of budget estimates) and the remaining Rs 1,710 crore (19 per cent) would be mobilised through open market borrowing.
Detailing the steps taken to combat the coronavirus in the Union Territory, the Chief Minister said his government was committed to ensuring that Puducherry emerged ”pandemic- free.” Bank loans amounting to Rs 87 crore would be arranged for students to pursue their education. Narayanasamy said the free breakfast scheme now implemented in schools in Puducherry would be named after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late M Karunanidhi.
He said it would be augmented with nutritious food although presently only milk was being supplied to students. DMK is an alliance partner of the ruling Congress. He said to meet the Union territory’s power requirements, the government would implement a massive infrastructure development scheme with a loan of Rs 746.53 crore from JICA (a Japanese International Cooperative Agency).
