Pondy CM accuses Kiran Bedi of blocking welfare schemes

Puducherry: After a gap of a few months, the war of words broke out between the Chief Minister and Lt Governor in Puducherry with the former accusing the latter of delaying the implementation of welfare schemes.

Commenting on the delay in supply of free rice to the people, the Chief Minister Mr V. Narayanasamy charged that the Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi was deliberately delaying the implementation of the scheme to bring a bad name to the elected government here.

“Instead of supplying rice to card-holders the Lt Governor gave approval to credit the cash equivalent under direct benefit transfer scheme to the bank accounts of beneficiaries. This is happening when people had met Ms Bedi and requested that they need supply of rice only and made it clear they were not prepared to accept cash payment through banks,” he said.

“The government had promised the people to supply free rice and no one can bring any obstacle to it when the government had enough fund to implement it,” he added.

In her response, Ms Bedi said that proper and careful examination of a proposal by an administrator which involves huge amounts of money cannot be called an obstacle.

“Is it not the duty of an LG to do due assessment of a proposed expenditure? It's public money. There is a stiff accountability for it,” she said in a WhatsApp message.

In a veiled attack on Mr Narayanasamy the Lt Governor said that 'if this close scrutiny disturbs any one then the problem is elsewhere, for reasons not known'. “At no stage the office of the administrator has declined to ensure benefits to the poor. Instead what it is trying to ensure by careful analysis is how to ensure that the benefits do not get leaked in the process.  If this irks some vested interests the Administrator is not responsible,” she said.