Puducherry: Puducherry Government was keen
on strengthening and modernising its police force as the union
territory was attracting annually around ten lakh visitors,
same as its population.
As part of the process, enhancing the manpower was being
done now. Although the requirement was 1,800 additional
personnel, the Centre had sanctioned 625 personnel only, he
told the territorial assembly winding up the debate on the
motion of thanks to the Lt Governor's Address.
He said the government was persuading the GAIL (India)
Limited to earmark an additional five lakh cubic metre of
natural gas to the gas-based power plant operated by
Puducherry Power Corporation Limited at Karaikal so that the
generation could be increased to 112 MW.
He said the State GDP growth was expected to be 11.7 per
cent this year and this was indicative of "the phenomenal
growth" the Union Territory was making in all sectors.
The crop insurance scheme meant for farmers would cover
all categories of farmers whether they were borrowers of loans
from banks or not. The government had also decided to pay the
entire premium for the insurance scheme. At present, farmers
and government equally shared the premium, he said.
The house where late freedom fighter and former Health
Minister V Subbiah had lived would be developed into a
research and literary centre at a cost of Rs one crore.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 19, 2010, 20:52