Bureaucrats hindering schemes decided upon by cabinet: CM

: Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Tuesday hit out at bureaucrats and the Lieutenant Governor, saying their attitude was to obstruct the implementation of several welfare schemes decided upon by the cabinet.

Addressing a meeting 'Makkal Kural' organised by the territorial government in a village near here to receive grievance petitions from the people, he said his government was struggling to overcome several hindrances in implementing the schemes decided upon by the cabinet.

The Chief Minister said the files containing decisions of the ministry were returned with a negative reply from the secretaries to government departments and there was a consequently a delay in implementing schemes.

Narayanasamy and his cabinet colleagues have received several petitions from the villagers at the 'Makkal Kural' meet the purpose of which was to help rural people present their lists of woes to the Ministers.

"We come and meet you at your doorstep instead of expecting you to meet us at our office," he said while assuring that the grievances listed in the petitions would be rectified in 30 days.

Expressing shock over the absence of secretaries at the meet, the Chief Minister said he would call for an explanation from them for not attending the meeting and added: "We will not hesitate to take action against the absentees."
Narayanasamy claimed that "despite these obstacles we are coming out successfully in several areas such as waiver of crop loans due from farmers, supplying free power to the agriculturists, incentives at the rate of Rs 10,000 per hectare of land cultivated by farmers and meeting the housing needs of the poor."