Kiran Bedi extends tenure of corporations’ chairpersons

PUDUCHERRY: Lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi issued an order extending the tenure of the

chairpersons

of five government corporations without imposing any conditions after the Union government upheld the decision of the Puducherry cabinet while overturning hers in this regard.

Earlier, Bedi did not accord approval for extension of tenure of chairpersons of seven corporations as they failed to fulfill nine conditions set by her. However, the Union government intervened after Puducherry government brought the issue to its notice and declared that the chairpersons of five corporations may function as there are no terms and conditions for their appointment except in respect of two boards – Pondicherry planning authority and Puducherry slum clearance board.

Bedi was left with no option than to approve the extension of tenure of MLAs – R Siva, M N R Balan, A Geetha, V Vizeaveny and N Danavelou – as the chairpersons of Pondicherry industrial

promotion

development and investment corporation (Pipdic), Puducherry tourism development corporation (PTDC), Puducherry power corporation, Puducherry distilleries limited and Papsco respectively.

It may be recalled that chief minister V Narayanasamy had sought the resignation of Bedi on moral grounds claiming that the Union government had ‘lost confidence in her’ as it ‘overruled her decision on denying an extension to the tenure of the chairpersons of the corporations’.

Bedi responded strongly claiming that ‘one will resign from a job, not a mission’. She said she is on a mission to make Puducherry a prosperous, clean, water-rich, financially secure, skilled and responsive territory, and urged Narayanasamy to join her in the mission instead of asking her to step down if he loves Puducherry.