HT This Day: October 19, 1954 -- French pockets to become part of India on November 1
The administration of the four French settlements of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahe will pass into the hands of the Government of India on November 1 following an overwhelming vote for the merger of these pockets with the Indian Union by the elected representatives of these settlements today.
The administration of the four French settlements of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Yanam and Mahe will pass into the hands of the Government of India on November 1 following an overwhelming vote for the merger of these pockets with the Indian Union by the elected representatives of these settlements today.
Out of 178 members of the 16 municipal communes from these settlements and the French India Representative Assembly who participated in the congress held at Kizhoor, 15 miles from Pondicherry, 170 voted in favour of merger and eight against.
The date for transfer has been set in a draft agreement between India and France, copies of which were understood to have been circulated among members at the Kizhoor congress.
The agreement for the de facto transfer of these settlements, it was I learnt in New Delhi tonight, would be signed in the Indian Capital tomorrow. The French Ambassador, Count Ostrorog, will sign for France and Mr R. K. Nehru. Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, most probably, for India.
The transfer marks the end of 271 years of alien rule over Indian territory of 196 sq. miles with a population of 320,000. Chandernagore, which formed the fifth French pocket at the time of India’s independence, passed into Indian hands after a popular referendum in June, 1949.
The verdict of the Kizhoor Congress, though fully regarded as a foregone conclusion, was received with loud acclamation by the members present. Hundreds of villagers who had collected near Kizhoor exploded crackers in festival fashion when a special messenger posted by them near the venue of the congress specially-erected corrugated shed-brought the cheering news. Members, when they came out of the meeting, were garlanded and taken in a procession with band and pipe music.
The verdict was also received with great satisfaction throughout the country, particularly the bordering Madras State.
The draft agreement circulated to Kizhoor Congress members is understood to provide for the continuation of the special administrative status of the settlements prior to de facto transfer and that any constitutional changes in the status could be made only after consulting the people.
The present municipal regime in the 16 communes and the regime relating to the Representative Assembly will continue. Rights and obligations resulting from such acts of the French administration as are binding on the settlements will pass on to the Government of India. Before de jure transfer, matters relating to citizenship will be fully considered and free choice of nationality will be given to the people in the settlements.
CIVIL SERVANTS
All existing civil servants, except those belonging to the metropolitan cadre and the general cadre of the French Overseas Ministry, will be taken over by the Government of India with effect from the date of de facto transfer on the same conditions of service as before the transfer. French civil servants and military personnel born in the settlements or maintaining family links therein will be allowed to return there freely on retirement or on leave.
While pensions, allowances and grants supported by the local budget will be paid by the Government of India, those supported by the metropolitan budget will, it is understood, be paid by the French Government. Existing rules about pensions will continue.
Nationals of France will be able to practise their existing professions in the settlements without imposition of any new conditions.
Existing facilities and status afforded to charitable institutions and loan offices will continue as before and will not be modified in future unless the people are first consulted.
Missions or institutions at present owning religious and cultural properties will continue to own and administer them.
WORKING OF COURTS
Existing courts in the settlements will continue to have jurisdiction over sub-judice cases prior to de facto transfer. Officers of these courts will be law graduates selected in accordance with French regulations in consultation with the Indian Consul-General before the date of de facto transfer. The parties concerned, if they so desire, by mutual agreement can have proceedings transferred under certain conditions to competent Indian courts.
Orders passed by the French courts before and after .de facto transfer will be executed by Indian authorities. Rights established by French laws prior to the date of defacto transfer will be binding on the Government of India. Records of French courts will be preserved for 20 years and representatives of the French Government will be furnished with their contents on application.
Copies of extracts of court proceedings in various communes in the Registrar’s office will be given to the parties or authorities concerned and to the French representative on the date of de facto transfer.
Provision is also understood to have been made for the enjoyment of the same facilities of trade, movement and establishment by French nationals born or domiciled in the settlements before the de facto transfer as by other residents of the settlements.
The passport system governing travel between India and the French settlements of Pondicherry and Karaikal will cease from the date of ‘ de facto ‘ transfer. A contingent of Malabar police stationed on the border will also be withdrawn.
When the Congress met, Mr Karunondra Mudaliar, Minister for Finance and Education in the former French India Administration, read out to the members the terms of the agreement signed between India and France. A detailed translation into Tamil of the proposals contained in the agreement was also distributed to the members.
After a short time was allowed for the members to go through the proposals a poll was called out. They were given two distinct ballot papers, one signifying their approval to merge with India. with the Indian emblem inscribed on the I paper, and the other expressing the I wish for continuance of the French rule, in the Settlements, with the French emblem printed.
The session took 150 minutes to return the verdict-” merger with India.”
