V Narayanasamy sworn in as Puducherry CM

06 June, Puduccherry

Former union minister V. Narayanasamy was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Puducherry on Monday.

Along with Narayanasamy, five Congress legislators also took oath as ministers.

Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the six-member team at the swearing-in ceremony held at the historic Gandhi Tidal on the Beach Road.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Treasurer M.K. Stalin and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E.V.K.S. Elangovan were among those present during the ceremony.

Pradesh Committee Congress president V. Namassivayam, Malladi Krishna Rao, MOHF Shajahan, M. Kandasamy and R. Kamalakannan got cabinet berths.

Narayanasamy had served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the second UPA regime after serving as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in UPA-I.

The Congress-DMK alliance has 17 members in the 30-member Puducherry Assembly.

The first cabinet meeting of the Narayanasamy Government which was sworn in today, approved a slew of welfare schemes.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting Chief Minister Narayanasamy hinted that his Government will order probe into the corruptions charges against the previous Government. The new Government announced 50 percent subsidy to all electricity consumers who use less than 100 units a month. The Government expects people to reduce consumption in order to avail the subsidy.

The Cabinet also decided to enhance the quantity of free rice to all ration card holders in the Union Territory from 10 Kg to 20 Kg a month. This will benefit 3.35 lakh households in the Union Territory. Congress had made these promises during the poll campaign. The new Government approved a scheme to bring all farmers under Crop Insurance Scheme for which the Government will pay the premium.