61st De Facto Merger day celebrated

Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy today said the Union Territory Administration has implemented several pilot projects and programmes to ameliorate the lot of weaker sections and more particularly the women.
Speaking at the celebrations of the 61st De Facto Merger day after unfurling the national flag at the Gandhi statue here, he said his government was the first in the country to introduce a scheme to levy only 50 per cent of the total stamp paper duties where immovable properties were registered in the name of women.
Families belonging to scheduled castes were extended housing subsidy of Rs 4 lakhs to replace huts by concrete structures. Those belonging to other sections were being extended Rs 2 lakhs as subsidy per house as the government was keen that the Union Territory should emerge a hut free pocket.

He said there was need for full statehood for Puducherry which had been a union territory since De Facto merger of the French establishments with Indian union.
"Only when we achieve full fledged status of Statehood we will be able to implement the schemes as we visualise them for betterment of the welfare of the people", he said.
Earlier he inspected a guard of honour presented by Puducherry Police. He took salute at the march past presented by the police and different contingents of school children. A cultural programme was also held at the celebrations. Speaker V Sabapathy, Ministers, legislators, officials and freedom fighters were among those who were present.

Puducherry and other outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam became free through a Treaty of Cession inked between the then French and Indian governments on November 1, 1954.
The government is celebrating the day every year as 'Independence Day of Puducherry' as per recommendation of a committee formed by the administration in 2013.