Bedi encounters 'protest' by group of villagers

Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today faced protest at Pandasozhanallur village here by some locals who accused her of blocking the implementation of various government welfare programmes, a charge she denied.
The incident occurred when Bedi, who has come under strong criticism from the ruling Congress over her style of functioning, was interacting with members of self-help groups in the village as part of her regular weekend field visits.
The group, including some women, started raising slogans against her and alleged that Bedi had stopped the distribution of free rice and blocked the implementation of a number of other welfare schemes.

A Raj Nivas release said that a group of villagers "deliberately assembled to create a furore and kept raising allegations against the Lt Governor".
The protesters were dispersed by the police,and Bedi went ahead with her interaction and asked villagers about their grievances.
It said that Bedi told the villagers that she had accorded sanction for distribution of free rice and at no stage was the scheme blocked.

She told them that as the Lt Governor, she was in Puducherry to serve the people, and was conducting weekend visits to villages.
Bedi also said that she was meeting people to know about their grievances and directing officials to solve them, the release said.

The Lt Governor also told them that her office was open to people to make representations about their grievances from Monday to Wednesday every week.
Bedi, who was accompanied by officials of various departments, took note of grievances, the release said.
She suggested that a committee of villagers be formed to address the problems through government agencies.
Earlier, on her arrival at the local Muthalathamman temple, Bedi was accorded a reception by the elders in the village and also members of self help groups.
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, speaking at a seminar organised as part of birth centenary celebrations of late prime minister Indira Gandhi here today, criticised Bedi's style of functioning.

"We are facing several hiccups and blockades and are not being able to implement welfare schemes because of interventions by the Lt Governor," he said.
Yesterday, the chief minister said that he was waiting for more than four months for a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his letter seeking an appointment with him to discuss thesituation arising out of the "arbitrary style of functioning" of Bedi.
The Congress government and Bedi have been at loggerheads over several issues, ranging from medical admissions to civic problems, for over an year with the latter accusing her of interfering in the administration of the Union Territory's administration.

The former IPS officer, who assumed office as the Lt Governor in May last year, has been underatking visits to outlying areas of Puducherry and interacting with people.