Appropriation Bill intensifies CM-Bedi war

Asking if the Governor was functioning as an “agent of the central government or of the BJP,” Narayanasamy said a piquant situation has arisen in view of the non-passage of the bill, which allows withdrawal of funds for government’s expenditure. “Genuine doubt arises that by delaying the approval, Kiran Bedi is acting at the instigation of someone or functions as an agent of the central government or of the Bharatiya Janata party,” he told the media.

Despite sending clarification sought by Bedi on the Bill, she has not “given her nod for tabling the Appropriation Bill in the House,” Narayanasamy said. Bedi of “deliberately disrupting working of the elected government,” the Chief Minister told reporters here that she had not given her approval only to blemish his government.

Only if the Bill facilitating allocation of budgetary appropriation to departments for 2018-19 was adopted could salaries, and pension to serving and retired government employees be disbursed, he noted. Similarly, the passage of the Bill was key to funding ongoing schemes, launching welfare programmes and other routine government establishment tasks.

“The Lt Governor should totally be responsible for all these developments,” he said. It was perhaps for the first time in the history of the Union Territory that the budget session had been adjourned without passage of the Appropriation Bill, he said. Narayanasamy said he along with other legislators would meet the Union Home and Finance Ministers and leaders of various political parties in Delhi on July 23 to press Puducherry`s demand for statehood.

The Puducherry Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted three resolutions including one seeking full statehood for the Union Territory.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said that the central government has reduced its grant to the UT from 70 per cent to 25 per cent. The house also adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre not to constitute the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) in place of the University Grants Commission(UGC). The third resolution said that the elected government enjoys all powers. SC in a judgement stated that the elected government and the cabinet can take any administrative decisions and if the Lt Governor violates the decisions of the cabinet it amounts to an act against the democratic government.