Finance Minister's announcement irrelevant in democracy: CM

Puducherry, May 16 (PTI): Senior Congress leader and Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Saturday criticised the tranche of Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying it was irrelevant in a democracy. Talking to reporters here, Narayanasamy said the opening up of coal sector and proposed changes in eight sectors, including defence production, airspace, airports and power distribution in Union Territories, were not relevant in a democracy.

He said there was no clear indication of how the benefits envisaged in the tranches would reach the targeted sections. "There are several uncertainties and complications in the Finance Minister's announcements," he said. The Chief Minister said his cabinet would meet on May 18 to decide on what should be done after the current lockdown ends on Sunday.

Already, a detailed report containing suggestions of the Puducherry government has been sent to the Centre in response to its consideration before a decision on lifting or extending the lockdown is taken, the Chief Minister said. He said normalcy was fast returning to Puducherry and the administration would face greater dislocation if the lockdown continues beyond May 17 as people have borne the brunt of the measure.

Narayanasamy said the government would announce at the end of the cabinet meet its decision on re-opening liquor shops. Referring to the Tamil Nadu government obtaining an order of the Supreme Court on liquor shops, he said, "We will make a decision considering the revenue position in Puducherry." On migrant workers, he said the territorial government would spend Rs 14 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to enable the nearly 1,300 such workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar stranded in Puducherry and Karaikal take a special train to their native places.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)