Puducherry Assembly holds short duration session; Opposition stages walkout

Puducherry Assembly met for 30 mins to fulfil Constitutional commitment; obituary references made, resolutions thanking Central govt, ISRO, PM Modi read out. CM Rangasamy tabled Puducherry Members of Legislative Assembly (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2023 & Puducherry Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023. DMK & Congress staged walkout objecting to short duration session. Opp. leader Siva said govt denied right to raise public issues & failed to implement welfare schemes.

Amid a walk out by the Opposition DMK and Congress, the Puducherry Assembly on Wednesday met for around 30 minutes, to fulfil the government’s Constitutional commitment of adhering to the interregnum of six months between two sessions.

Immediately after the House assembled at 9. 30 a.m., Speaker R. Selvam made obituary references to former legislators who passed away recently, and also to those killed in natural calamities in Libya and Morocco.

The Speaker then read out a resolution thanking the Central government, Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy and officials for paving the way for the introduction of 10% reservation for NEET-qualified government school students in medical admissions.

The Speaker also read out resolutions complimenting Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his long-term vision for the successful lunar landing and for the holding of the G20 summit in New Delhi.

After the Speaker placed the resolutions before the House, CM Rangasamy tabled the Puducherry Members of the Legislative Assembly (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2023 and Puducherry Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

A senior official told The Hindu that an amendment was made to the Puducherry Members of Legislative Assembly (Prevention of Disqualification) Act to include the Animal Welfare Board among the statutory bodies in the Union Territory to insulate legislators from being disqualified under the principles of the Office of Profit when they were appointed as chairpersons or members of the Board.

As far the introduction of Goods and Services Tax Bill went, the official said it was to incorporate decisions made in the recent GST Council meetings. The audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for the year ended March, 2022 was also tabled in the Assembly. The Speaker adjourned the house sine die at around 10 a.m.