Budget: Puducherry begins preparatory work

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Wednesday convened a meeting of all Secretaries and Heads of the departments in this connection.

The Cabinet colleagues of Narayanasamy also took part in the meeting which discussed the departmentwise allocation in the budget, schemes to enhance the tax revenue and among other things.

Later in the evening, he also convened an all-party meeting in which the Congress and its allies had only participated. Maintaining that a meeting, when the budget session was announced, was ‘unwarranted,’ the Opposition parties had boycotted the meeting.

Meanwhile, Puducherry Municipality and Commune Panchayat employees went on a mass casual leave on Thursday and held a demonstration to press their demands. They were demanding the immediate implementation of 7th pay commission recommendations to them.

Stating that the seventh pay commission recommendations was implemented to the state government employees two years back and it is yet to be implemented to the Municipality and Commune Panchyat employees, they took out a procession from Kamban Kalai Arangam to the Legislative assembly to picket it. As the procession reached the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, police stopped them and there they held a demonstration before dispersing.