Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy answers questions asked by legislators at zero hour during the Puducherry Assembly Session, in Puducherry.
Credit: PTI Photo
Puducherry: Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday announced that the territorial government would resume distribution of rice free of cost to ration card-holders from the current financial year.
Rangasamy, who holds the Finance portfolio, made the announcement in the Assembly while presenting the budget for 2024-2025.
He also said amidst thumping of desks by members of the ruling coalition that the government would also distribute pulses, sugar and edible oil at subsidised rates at Public Distribution System outlets from the current fiscal.
The government has also proposed to issue new ration cards through common service centres (CSCs) through online mode. Inclusion or deletion of names from ration cards would also be done through CSCs, Rangasamy said.
It may be recalled that ration shops in the Union Territory have been non-functional since 2019 following differences of opinion between the then Lieutenant-Governor Kiran Bedi and the then government, headed by Congress leader V Narayanasamy, over several issues, including the execution of the government's free rice scheme.
The defunct Pondicherry Cooperative Sugar Mill at Lingareddipalayam near here would be reopened with private participation to produce ethanol and sugar, the Chief Minister said.
With a view to strengthening the cooperative movement and transforming all cooperative bodies into self-sustaining institutions in the coming year, he said the government had proposed to convert the loans extended to some cooperative societies in the last financial year into grants subject to the condition that the societies were able to generate at least ten per cent of the amount sought to be converted.
The Chief Minister further said his government had sought upgradation of the airport to ensure better connectivity to Puducherry.