Latest news with #N.Rangasamy
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Puducherry rolls out one-time regularisation scheme for unauthorised constructions
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Monday formally launched the one-time regularisation scheme for unauthorised constructions and plan violations. The scheme was inaugurated at a function organised in the Chief Minister's chamber in the Legislative Assembly in the presence of Speaker R. Selvam, Public Works Minister K. Lakshminarayanan and officials from the Puducherry Planning Authority and the Town and Country Planning Department. 'The Puducherry One-Time Regularization Scheme for the unpermitted constructions and deviations 2025' will be applicable to buildings constructed and roofed/floored between May 1, 1987 and July 16, 2025 in all regions of Puducherry. Applications for regularisation should be submitted only online and within a period of one year from the date of publication of the notification. Along with the required fees, building plan and certificates/permits documents should be submitted as per the checklist attached with the application, a press note said. A dedicated software module, the Online Building Permission System (OBPS), has been designed by National Informatics Centre in Puducherry to implement the scheme. This will prevent disconnection of electricity, water and sewage facilities, denial of permission to register a building plot, sealing and demolition of a building that violates building regulations. The application fee for residential building is ₹5000 and ₹10,000 for other than residential building. A non-refundable scrutiny fees applies at the rate of ₹20/- per sq.m for residential building and ₹50 per sq.m for other than residential building. The regularisation charges for unauthorised deviated construction for residential building is ₹500 per sq.m, ₹750 per sq.m for mixed use building and special building and ₹1000 per sq.m for multi-storeyed buildings. Government buildings will be exempted from payment of regularisation charges. However, Government aided schools will have to pay 50% of regularisation charges for mixed use building and special building at the rate of ₹750 per sq.m and in the case of multi-storeyed buildings at the rate of ₹1000 per sq.m as applicable. The amnesty scheme will not be applicable in specific cases where the applicant does not have title deed of land or the property, occupies encroached government land or abuts areas designated for development projects. The details of the Regularization Scheme may be accessed from the website of Town and Country Planning Department, Puducherry ( or the website of Puducherry Planning Authority, Puducherry (
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
U.T. has benefited from the presence of saints, says Chief Minister
Recalling the rich spiritual legacy of Puducherry, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Friday said the Union Territory has benefited immensely from the presence of saints who have made the territory their home. 'The territory is blessed with the presence of saints. Our sense of spiritual heritage is a legacy and it has helped in the growth of the region. More and more people are becoming religious,' he said while addressing Sitharkal Literature Seminar here. The programme was organised by the Tamil Development wing of the Art and Culture Department, Government of Puducherry. The Chief Minister said he had a religious bend of mind from childhood but became more religious after meeting his spiritual guru Appa Paithyam Swami. 'I was religious from childhood but I became a deeply religious person after meeting my guru,' he added. Speaker R. Selvam, Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan and recently-appointed Minister A. John Kumar were present.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Puducherry CM Rangasamy makes case for U.T.'s inclusion in Finance Commission to NITI Aayog member
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy has reiterated the demand for Puducherry's inclusion in the Central Finance Commission (CFC) during a meeting with Arvind Virmani, Member of NITI Aayog, who called on him during a visit to the city. While no formal memorandum was submitted to the NITI Aayog body, Mr. Rangasamy utilised the occasion of the meeting to press for CFC member status citing the grave financial crisis in the Union Territory that impeded the development agenda of the NDA governments at the Centre and the Union Territory. The Chief Minister pointed out that Puducherry was missing out on a share from the divisible pool earmarked for States as it remained outside the purview of the CFC. With limited Central funds and scope for generating own revenue, especially after the establishment of a separate Public Account in 2007, the Union Territory was unable to fulfil its welfare commitments or undertake development projects, he said. Mr. Rangasamy also made the case for 100% funding for Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), citing the drastic reduction of Central funds in the Union Territory's annual Budget outlay over the recent years. Speaker R. Selvam, Chief Secretary Sharat Chauhan and A. Muthamma, Commissioner-cum-Secretary were present. AIADMK submits memorandum Meanwhile, the AIADMK urged the NITI Aayog to consider inclusion of the Union Territory in the Central Finance Commission and a reversion to the pre-2007 practice of the Union government fully financing the Centrally Sponsored Schemes. In a memorandum submitted to the visiting NITI Aayog member, A. Anbalagan, AIADMK secretary pointed out that Puducherry's exclusion from the CFC has constrained the funds available for implementing welfare schemes. Even the State's share of 40% to CSS could not be contributed by the Union Territory. Earlier, the CSS were fully funded by the Central government and there was no State share. But this system was changed and the Union Territories with Legislative Assemblies were required to make a contribution of 40% as State's share. 'This puts our Union Territory in a difficult position. We would request you to kindly arrange for revival of the old procedure of full funding by the Union government for Centrally Sponsored Schemes,' the memorandum said. It also pointed out that Puducherry had a legacy loan of around ₹2,600 crore when a separate Public Account was adopted for the Union Territory in 2007. Repeated requests to Union government by Puducherry administration to write off the legacy loan have only gone in vain. The AIADMK urged the NITI Aayog to facilitate the waiver of the loan. Though it is another matter that Puducherry had not conducted local body election since 2016, even if such an exercise were to be completed, the Union Territory could not get financial assistance from the Central government as it was not included in the CFC. Pointing out that even the newly-created Union Territory of J&K was included in the Finance Commission, the AIADMK felt that it was imperative to include Puducherry in the planning and fund devolving body to liberate the Union Territory from the acute fiscal crisis. The AIADMK also argued that the U.T.'s inclusion in the CFC would only enable the NDA government in Puducherry, which has been executing a number of welfare schemes for the betterment of the public, to fully align with the goal of making 'BEST Puducherry' as envisaged by the Prime Minister.
The Hindu
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Puducherry Chief Minister inaugurated bus stand in Bahour
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Wednesday inaugurated the new bus stand constructed near Moolanathar Temple at Bahour village at a cost of around ₹2 crore under the Centre's Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission. Speaker R. Selvam, Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan, Senthil Kumar, MLA and officials attended the inaugural.
The Hindu
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Opposition turns heat on AINRC-BJP combine in Puducherry
The political temperature is rising in the Union Territory of Puducherry ahead of the 2026 Assembly election with the Opposition upping the ante against Bharatiya Janata Party and its ruling ally the All India N. R. Congress headed by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy following the contentious decision to replace the sole BJP Minister from the Scheduled Caste community with a party legislator who had come under the scanner of the High Court and the Puducherry police in a temple land grab case. Recently, the BJP high command had asked its Minister from the Dalit community A. J. Saravanan Kumar to step down ostensibly as part of a prior understanding of sharing the Cabinet berth. Even as the move to remove the sole Dalit representative in the Cabinet triggered an outcry in the political circles, what has exacerbated matters is the choice of BJP legislator A. John Kumar, who had come under a cloud in a land grab case involving a prime property belonging to the famed Kamatchi Amman Temple in the heart of the city. The issue being held against Mr. Kumar's induction is a case the CB-CID wing of the Puducherry police had registered in 2023 in connection with the grabbing of around 64,000 sq. ft. of Kamatchi Amman temple land at Rainbow Nagar in the town. The police registered a case against several Revenue Officials for conniving with a business group to grab the land. During investigation, the role of some politicians had also surfaced. In the meantime, on a petition filed by a devotee, the High Court had directed Mr. Kumar, his legislator son Richards John Kumar, also belonging to the BJP, and four of their family members to return the temple property to prove their bona fide in the wake of their claim of having been innocent purchasers who had no role to play in the allegations of fabrication of documents, corruption, and collusion with government officials to grab the temple land. The Court had asked the government to take possession of the land and directed the two legislators to subject themselves to the criminal investigation undertaken by the CB-CID in Puducherry. Subsequently, the District Administration took possession of the land and handed over the property to the Kamatchi Amman Temple trust. Though the CB-CID had made several arrests, including two senior officers belonging to Pondicherry Civil Services, the probe agency has maintained a silence on the progress made in the case which invited criticism from the Opposition parties. The Enforcement Directorate had also suo motu registered a case and sought details from the government about particulars of the case. The case related to the temple land had started to hound Mr. Kumar ever since his name cropped up for the Ministerial berth to fill the vacancy, with the Congress, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), vehemently opposing the decision of the BJP to include the Kamaraj Nagar constituency legislator in Mr. Rangasamy-led Cabinet. Opposition leaders have issued statements criticising the BJP for projecting an image of being 'proponents of Hindutva while allowing people involved in temple land grabbing case to occupy Ministerial position.' Apart from the Congress and the Left parties, the Hindu Munnani too has taken up cudgels against the BJP for inducting a partyman who was facing temple land grab charges. On the very day the Ministry of Home Affairs cleared the name of Mr. Kumar for being inducted into the Cabinet, around 75 Youth Congress workers sent letters to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention in preventing Mr. Kumar from becoming a Minister as he and his family members were under the scanner in a case relating to usurping temple land. The Hindu Munnani, which had been in the forefront of a campaign opposing the temple land grab, has come out in the open against the BJP local leadership for inducting a 'scam-tainted' person in the Cabinet. Just hours before Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan administered the oath of office to Mr. Kumar at Raj Nivas on Monday, several Hindu Munnani activists held a day-long protest in the town over giving the legislator a Cabinet berth. The Hindu Munnani activists who participated in the protest vowed to intensify the agitation in the coming days. The cadre belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also held a separate protest during the same time against the swearing-in of the BJP legislator. Citing the appointment of Mr. Kumar as a Minister, former Chief Minister and Congress veteran V. Narayanasamy at a press conference termed the Hindutva ideology stated by the BJP as 'fake' and hinted at the Congress party's plans to expose the BJP for giving a Ministerial berth to a person accused of grabbing temple land. As the issue gets more traction in the political arena of the Union Territory, the BJP would have to redouble its efforts to convince followers that its legislator was an innocent victim who was duped into buying usurped temple land and that Mr. Kumar was offered a Ministerial post to honour a prior understanding to strengthen the outreach to Christian community in the former French enclave. Along with the induction of Mr. Kumar into the Cabinet, another issue that has put the BJP in a tight spot and given the Opposition fresh ammunition against the ruling establishment ahead of the 2026 Assembly poll was the decision to replace Mr. Sai Saravanan. He was the lone Dalit member in Mr. Rangasamy's Cabinet after the AINRC legislator, S. Chandira Priyanga, was removed from the Cabinet reportedly because the Chief Minister was not satisfied with her handling of subjects assigned to her. The AINRC-BJP combine has come in for severe criticism from the Opposition ranks on the omission of a Scheduled Caste representative from the Cabinet. With the Opposition, particularly Congress, giving enough indication of keeping the issues of appointment of Mr. Kumar in the Ministry and lack of Dalit representation in the Cabinet, alive by organising a series of agitations against the ruling combine, it is unlikely that the political temperature will come down any time soon.
