Puducherry, Dec 29 (PTI) Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi on Tuesday said despite the severe slowdown on account of Covid-19, revenue receipts gradually picked up in the union territory from July this year and normalcy has been restored from September.

"The financial position of Puducherry has stabilised. Fiscal deficit, outstanding debt, Gross State Domestic Product ratio continue to be within the prescribed parameters under the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act," she said in a WhatsApp message to mediapersons.

She said the territorial government's Department of Finance had identified the challenges for the incoming year 2021.

"One of the challenges being matching receipts to revenue expenditure and also the challenge as to how the Union Territory government would work on generating more revenues`, she said.

"Despite the severe slowdown on account of Covid-19, revenue receipts gradually picked up in Puducherry from July this year and normalcy has been restored from September," she added.

Meanwhile, the former IPS officer in another WhatsApp message reiterated her appeal to the people to avoid congested places and particularly new year eve celebrations.

She stressed that people should observe the three 'Ss'- safe mask, sanitation and safe distance.

Bedi also said that the Chief Secretary had already circulated the instructions received from Home Ministry for compliance with safety norms.

"Anyone compromising on the guidelines will be doing so at their own peril. Anyone tinkering with the guidelines would do so at their own responsibility and will remain accountable to explain and clarify any deviations," she added.

The Lt Governor said Collectors and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of respective districtswere "particularly responsible to ensure compliance with all instructions of the Home Ministry."PTI Cor SS

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)