Puducherry, Aug 26 (PTI): Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday said the territorial government is taking all possible efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and has largely succeeded (in its efforts). Delivering her customary address in Tamil to the territorial Assembly on the opening day of the budget session (2021-2022) here, she said she was confident that Puducherry would certainly be free from the coronavirus pandemic soon with the cooperation of the government machinery and the people. Soundararajan said she wanted to reiterate that the people of the union territory had voted for the government with high expectations and hoped that all the Members of the House under the able guidance of the Chief Minister would work hard to fulfil their expectations and Puducherry prosperous, free from poverty and unemployment in course of time. "Puducherry had also borne the brunt of the pandemic. But the government acted swiftly and took all possible efforts to contain the spread of the virus and it is heartening to see that the Covid-19 positive cases have come down drastically now," she said. She expressed her gratitude and appreciation amidst thumping of desks by the members to all frontline workers including medical officers, revenue staff, municipal staff and other officials for their dedicated service. The Lt Governor urged the people of Puducherry not to be complacent and appealed to them to continue to adopt the precautionary measures without any let-up. Highlighting the implementation of schemes by various departments, she said that under the National Food Security Act 2013, the government of Puducherry had implemented Direct Benefit Transfer and assistance under the Universal Public Distribution System is given through the DBI in all the four regions of the union territory. A motion of thanks to the Lt Governor"s address was tabled by AINRC legislator A K D Arumugam and seconded by K S P Ramesh (AINRC). The Speaker announced that a discussion on the motion would be held Friday. After the Lt Governor`s address, the election to the post of Deputy Speaker of the House was held. Speaker R Selvam announced that the former Welfare Minister P Rajavelu"s was the only nomination received and he was elected unopposed. Soundararajan, during her speech, said that under the free rice scheme a cost of Rs 235 crore was incurred during last financial year and around 3.44 lakh family ration card holders benefitted under the scheme. She said the food grains allocated by the Government of India as Covid-19 relief measure under Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was distributed to the targeted beneficiaries- about 1.78 lakh family ration card holders. Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who holds the Finance portfolio, would present the budget later in the evening, a communication from the Assembly secretariat said. PTI Cor SS SS SS