The AIADMK, in a memorandum to Vice-President of India C.P. Radhakrishnan, has sought immediate steps to grant Statehood to Puducherry.
AIADMK secretary A. Anbalagan led a delegation that handed over the memorandum to the Vice-President during his visit to Puducherry on Monday (December 29, 2025).
“Statehood is a long-pending demand of the Union Territory. If the Government of India is not inclined to give Statehood immediately, it can, at best, bring about an amendment to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, to give more powers, both in administrative and financial matters, to the elected council of Ministers,” the memorandum stated.
Mr. Anbalagan said that in 2007, a separate public account was established for Puducherry. At the time, the Puducherry government had approximately ₹2,600 crore in outstanding debt.
“It is customary to waive such legacy loans when starting a new account. However, despite repeated requests from the government, this legacy loan has not been waived. As a result, Puducherry’s total debt burden now exceeds ₹13,000 crore. The annual financial assistance provided by the Central government to Puducherry is entirely consumed by interest payments on the existing loan. Considering Puducherry’s financial crisis, the Centre should at least waive the legacy loan,” he said.
Being a Union Territory, Puducherry is not covered under the Finance Commission. It may be pertinent to note that the 15th Finance Commission has allocated 1% of revenue from the central resources pool to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir Union Territories. The AIADMK has requested the Vice-President to take steps to include Puducherry, as had been done in the cases of Ladakh and J&K.
The AIADMK also flagged the inordinate delay in implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in the Union Territory.
Stringent directions to private medical colleges to release 50% of MBBS seats to the government quota, the withdrawal of decision to privatise power distribution in the U.T., and the expansion of the Puducherry airport were the other demands.
Published – December 30, 2025 01:11 pm IST
