PMK wants higher status for Pondy

Pondicherry, Apr 4 (UNI) Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) Parliamentary Party Leader and MP M Ramadass has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for granting B1 or B2 status for Pondicherry town.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which was released to the press here, Prof Ramadass said Pondicherry had made rapid and remarkable strides in her economy, society, culture and polity after joining the national mainstream in 1954.

The government and people were constantly voicing the demand for B1 or B2 status for the union territory. Though the Union Home Ministry recommended B2 status for Pondicherry, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram refuse to concede as Pondicherry city did not have an urban population of five lakhs.

In this context, Prof Ramadass pointed out that Port Blair with population of 93,000 and Panaji with 1.3 lakh people had already been upgraded to B1 status using non-population criteria and the same could be applied for Pondicherry too.

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