Tenders invited to sink borewells at 14 locations in Puducherry, says Chief Minister
Speaking after unfurling the national flag on the occasion of Independence Day celebrations on Beach Road, the Chief Minister said tenders have been invited for the drilling of borewells as part of augmenting drinking water supply in the Puducherry region. The funds would be availed from Agence Francaise de Development (French Development Agency), he said.
The government was able to make progress on several fronts with the 'blessings' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said, adding that many development and welfare programmes were initiated in the last four years. Puducherry has achieved 8.81% economic growth during the period, and the per capita income has reached ₹3,02,680, the Chief Minister said.
The revenue mobilisation of the government has clocked 46.60% growth in the last four years. The government revenue, which was around ₹8,418.96 crore in 2020-21 has gone up to ₹12,342.51 crore. The unemployment rate has come down from 6.7% in 2020-21 to 4.3% in the last four years. The government was able to fill around 2,500 vacant posts in a 'fair and transparent' manner, he said.
The bulk of the recruitment was done in the Police Department with the aim to strengthen the force and provide security to people. Besides filling up vacancies, the government has addressed the long-pending promotion issues of employees, he said.
Referring to the agriculture sector, the Chief Minister said various initiatives have helped improve the extent of farm activity from 26,759 hectares in 2020-2021 to 30,416 hectares. The government has also decided to increase the MLA fund from ₹2 crore per annum to ₹3 crore per annum, the Chief Minister said.
Earlier, the Chief Minister inspected a guard of honour given by the territorial police. Speaker R. Selvam, Home Minister A. Namassivayam, Opposition leader and DMK convenor R. Siva, legislators belonging to All India N. R Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Dravida Munnetra kazhagam attended the celebrations. Chief Secretary Sharat Chauhan, Director General of Police Shalini Singh and senior officials were present.
Various cultural events marked the celebrations on the Beach Road. Artists from several States performed their traditional art forms before the audience. Independence Day celebrations were also held at UT's enclaves of Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam regions.
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