Puducherry: Digital transactions should be implemented in a phased manner after providing basic infrastructures, said Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy.
Adequate infrastructure needed for going digital transactions are not available now in Puducherry and the situation was made clear to Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley while participating in the Inter-State Council meet (South Zone) in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Without infrastructure facilities, cashless transactions cannot be implemented all of a sudden in the Union Territory. Of the required 5,000 swipe machines, only 300 are available in Puducherry now,” he said while talking to reporters here on Sunday.
The Chief Minister requested the union government to make efforts to implement central government schemes in Puducherry on a pilot basis. Demonetisation of higher value currencies of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 had impacted revenue collection in the state.
“Trade and business suffered, tourist flow came down and revenue through sales tax and excise also declined,” he said adding that he has asked Centre to compensate the revenue loss arising out of the demonetisation.
Mr Narayanasamy refused to comment on the suspension of a senior civil service officer for allegedly posting an obscene video clip in a WhatsApp group of government officials.
Registrar of Cooperative Societies A.S. Sivakumar was suspended by Lt Governor Kiran Bedi on Saturday. The Chief Minister refused to make a comment saying that it is an administrative matter.
Every official in the Union Territory should function within the prescribed framework of powers, said the Chief Minister adding that the official was not released from the police custody by any of the Ministers.
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry had agreed to provide funds for the expansion of the runway of Puducherry airport, said Mr Narayanasamy adding that the Chief Secretary was directed to expedite the work. Steps are being taken to resume air service at the earliest and this will attract more tourists to Puducherry, he added.
