The Liberation Day of Puducherry was celebrated with much fanfare on Thursday.
It was on November 1 that the then French establishments of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam merged de facto with the Indian union, bidding farewell to the French regime.
Ignoring heavy downpour, a large number of people, led by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, participated in the celebrations. The event began with the hoisting of the tricolour by the Chief Minister near the Gandhi Statue.
In his address, the Chief Minister said the Union Territory had progressed a great deal after it got merged with Union of India. Mr. Narayanasamy said his government was keen to develop the region into a major tourist destination in the country.
The Tourism Department had been working to develop an Ocenarium at a cost of ₹350 crore at Manapet. Under a solar project, the government had proposed to replace electric bulbs with LED lights in 100 schools.
A programme had been launched to assess movable and immovable properties in all temples in the Union Territory.
The government had taken steps to augment revenue of temples by increasing the lease amount of property owned by temples, the Chief Minister said.
Police rewarded
He handed over cheques for ₹25,000 each to 13 police personnel who cracked the sensational ATM fraud case. The government school students and police contingents took out an impressive march across. Braving the heavy downpour, children and artisans performed various cultural programmes.
Speaker V. Vaithilingam, Minister for Public Works A. Namassivayam, Minister for Revenue M.O.H.F Shahjahan and senior officials attended the programme.