Puducherry CM should lead fight for Statehood against the Centre, says CPI
The CPI has demanded that Chief Minister N. Rangasamy come to the forefront in Puducherry's fight for Statehood, and be willing to sacrifice the alliance with the BJP for the cause if his avowed stand on the issue has sincerity of intent.
In a resolution passed at a meeting of the party State committee, the CPI said while the demand for Statehood has been a long-held aspiration of the people and taken up by political parties across the spectrum, it is the respective Chief Ministers who had been in the forefront of the fight.
If the Chief Minister is interested in securing Statehood, he should come to the forefront in the fight against the Centre by leaving the BJP alliance, which refuses to grant Statehood, the resolution said.
The resolution pointed out that the Centre had, in a recent session of Parliament, clearly stated that it was not possible to grant Statehood for Puducherry, and also that no resolution passed by the Assembly in this regard had been brought to its attention.
In March, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had stated that after the Legislative Assembly in March adopted its 16th resolution seeking Statehood, he would lead an all-party delegation to Delhi to prevail upon the Centre. However, there has been no such visit, nor has the Mr. Rangasamy visited Delhi to insist on the demand.
The resolution stated that continuing to ally with the BJP, which had clearly declined to grant Statehood, was tantamount to misleading the people.
Other resolutions passed include seeking strengthening of anti-corruption units in government departments, given the spate of recent cases of graft where government officials were accused, the constitution of a Staff Selection Board to conduct recruitment tests to fill vacancies in government departments, and to ensure that reservation benefits are not snatched by candidates of privileged classes.
Another resolution has asked the government to initiate action against private educational institutions that refuse to adhere to the free education scheme for Dalit and ST students. While the scheme, since 2020-21, benefiting SC/ST students in Puducherry, aimed to ensure that economically backward students and students pursuing higher education get quality education, some private educational institutions were refusing to accept it, the CPI said.
The CPI has also reiterated its demand to establish a textile park on the land of defunct mills on a priority basis, given the huge potential for generating local jobs. Another resolution called for the withdrawal of the new norms of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on loans against pledged jewellery.
K. Narayana, CPI national secretary, I. Dinesh Ponniah, National Council member, AM Saleem, State Secretary, K. Sethuselvam, assistant secretary, R. Viswanathan, former Minister, and leaders including V.S. Abishegam, Nara. Kalainathan, T. Geethanathan and B.Subbaiah, participated.
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