Procès-verbaux des séances du Conseil Général, Pondichéry.

Scope and content: This series contains the proceedings of the meetings of the General Council of French India based in Pondicherry. They include the proposals put forward by the administration (usually represented by the Director of Interior), the Council's deliberations on these proposals and their adoption or rejection. The proposals relate mostly to the administration's revenues (levies, taxes) and expenditures, including expenditures on public works; decisions relating to the colony's movable and immovable properties; remunerations of non-metropolitan staff employed by the administration; petitions received from the public etc. They include reports, names of members who took part in the discussions and analyses of their views. The sessions are of two kinds: ordinary and special and each session consists of several sittings spread over a period of days. The special sessions concern emergency situations, such as relief funds for farmers in the event of natural calamities etc. Like the Moniteur officiel, the Bulletin officiel and the Annuaire, the proceedings of the Conseil Général was an official publication printed on government funds and destined mainly to be distributed to the various branches of government. In 1884, the print run of the series was 200 copies (175 for free distribution and 25 for sale) (see Bulletin officiel 1884 p. 179) and in 1888 its subscription rate was 1 Rs (see unnumbered annexe of the order of 29th March 1888 in the Bulletin officiel 1888). The library of the French Institute of Pondicherry has the volumes of the proceedings for the years 1884-1885 and 1889-1896.