A meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Home Ministry was held here today on the subject of “Administration in the Union Territories”. The Home Minister, Shri Shivraj Patil presided over the meeting.
Ministry of Home Affairs made a presentation in the meeting. The presentation highlighted the legal and constitutional framework of the Union Territories; the financial status of the Union Territories; the developmental initiatives taken in the last two years and response to natural calamities. It also highlighted the fact that in most of the socio-economic indicators such as literacy, infant mortality rate (IMR), per capita income, per capita electricity consumption and population below the poverty line, all the Union Territories are much better placed compared to their neighbouring States. For instance, literacy rate in A&N Islands is 81% compared to 73% in Tamil Nadu. IMR in Chandigarh is 21 compared to 45 in Punjab and 61 in Haryana. Per capita income in Chandigarh is Rs. 57,000 compared to Rs. 27,000 in Punjab. Per Capital electricity consumption in Dadra & Nagar Haveli is over 7000 units compared to about 600 units in Maharashtra and 900 units in Gujarat. A unique desalination plant has been successfully commissioned in Lakshadweep. This plant uses an indigenously developed technology based on the temperature difference between surface sea water and underground sea water. It has solved the drinking water problem of the Kavaratti Island of Lakshadweep. Similar Plants have been approved for the other Islands. The ambient air quality in Delhi has improved due to conversion of more than a lakh public transport vehicles into CNG; a network of flyovers have been constructed to ease traffic congestion.
The Members of Parliament who participated in the Meeting appreciated the progress made by the Union Territories in comparison to the neighbouring States. However, they also articulated the need for having greater public participation in the governance of the UTs. The Home Minister in his response stated that all the points made by the Hon’ble Members of Parliament will be properly analysed and appropriate responses will be presented in the next meeting of the Consultative Committee, which will have the same subject for discussion.
The Members present at the meeting included S/Shri Debabrata Biswas, Dr. K. Malaisamy, Dr. P.C. Alexander, Mahmood A. Madani and Jai Prakash Agarwal of the Rajya Sabha and S/Shri Avtar Singh Bhadana, Madan Lal Sharma, Manoranjan Bhakta, Aditya Nath, Mohanbhai Delkar, Sarbananda Sonowal, Brajesh Pathak, S.D. Malik, Mohan Singh, Dhirendra Agrawal and Smt. B. Susheela of the Lok Sabha. Members representing UTs in both the Houses of Parliament were special invitees for this meeting. They included Shri V. Narayanasamy from Rajya Sabha and S/Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, Dr. P.P. Koya, Prof. M. Ramadoss, Sandip Dikshit, Sajjan Kumar, Dahya Bhai V. Patel and Smt. Krishna Tirath of the Lok Sabha. Ministers of State for Home, S/Shri Manik Rao Gavit, Sriprakash Jaiswal and S. Regupathy, Home Secretary, Shri V.K. Duggal, Secretary (Border Management), Shri B.S. Lalli and Special Secretary (IS), Shri G. S. Rajagopal were among those present.
RK
(Release ID :19422)