Andaman and Nicobar Administration

Directorate of IP&T

Information & Publicity Division

 

Port Blair 24 May, 2015.

 

Press Release

 

 

Recounting one year’s achievements in A&N Islands

LG reiterates commitment to steer Isles

towards all-round sustainable development

Port Blair, May 24

The summer of 2015 looks different from that of 2014 when the BJP led NDA Govt assumed office on May 26, 2014. The year gone by has seen several changes that have had an impact on the overall development of the country. The Govt under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in its first year has certainly taken measures that could lay the foundation for long term growth in all spheres in the country. As this govt. completes one year in office, the Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lt. Gen Ajay Kumar Singh (Retd), spoke about the developments that have taken place in these Islands during the last one year, in an interview over the Doordarshan Kendra, Port Blair. Speaking to the Chief Editor i/c of The Daily Telegrams, Kanak Radha Chatterjee, during this interview, the Lt Governor listed out the achievements, future roadmaps and the challenges regarding the all-round development of A&N Islands.

KRC: The BJP led NDA government at the centre is completing one year. What difference do you see, Sir, in the country today in terms of all round development and changes in the mind sets of its citizens?

Lt Governor: A year ago, a wave of hope surfaced in the country, with the formation of NDA government under the dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. The country has a lot of hopes from this Government and I am happy to say that the Govt. has worked with sincerity to fulfill them. Many developments have taken place and will continue to take place. There is feeling of hope and optimism amongst people which, I feel, is the greatest change. Besides, there is air of dynamism in all spheres and all the Ministries of the Govt, and we at Andaman and Nicobar Islands can also feel the same.

The Govt. and the Administration have both become very responsive, transparent and the commitment of marching forward is visible. That the Govt lays special thrust on the people who are poor, downtrodden, farmers and who work in the unorganized sector, is evident from the announcements of various welfare schemes for such people during the last one year. The people of A&N Islands are also largely benefiting from these schemes The ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan’, has proved to be quite relevant here in A&N Islands. Today, if any one visits our Islands, they say we have never seen such beautiful and clean place anywhere else. So with that motto we are now focusing on Infrastructure development such as solid waste management, toilets, slum developments etc. Another scheme is Pradhan Mantri Jan dhan yojana, the objective of this scheme is financial inclusion, which means every citizen will be provided with financial capability and I am very happy to say that there has been a 100 % coverage in these Islands under this scheme. There has also been a great change in the country’s security which has been strengthened; especially the oversea visits of our Prime Minister to our neighborhood countries will see better relation with these countries. Today we can see that most of these nations want to be a part of our development agenda and I think through this our country will be immensely benefitted. I am confident that in the next four years there will be great progress and development and our country will march forward with a more progressive attitude while the aspirations of our citizens will be met to a large extent.

KRC: Sir, far from the mainland India, the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands depends completely on the Central Govt for its developments. So what are the challenges before the Administration?

Lt Governor: Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands are 1200 km far from the mainland spread in the Bay of Bengal. It is a very strategic group of islands which is a great advantage to our country. It has about one fourth of the country’s coast line and 39% exclusive economic zone. We are a Union Territory, administered by the centre government and our dependency is 100 % on the central government. We have been allocated a fund of Rs 3860 Crore as this year’s budget while revenue generation is only Rs 350 Cr. There are a lot of challenges but we shall use this budget allocation properly, for the betterment of the Islands, fulfilling the aspirations of our people, improving the strategic security, protecting the environment and taking care of our Tribes. A committee has been appointed under the Chief Secretary which will see how we can improve our revenue generation. Despite the financial crunch of last year, for the entire country, the Centre Govt sanctioned many of our big projects worth thousands of crores viz construction of 2 bridges, widening of ATR, while approval for the undersea cable has been accorded in principle which will lead to a big transformation.

We should strengthen our Panchayati Raj system further so that real power and decision making goes into the hands of the people, which is the focus of the Central Government as well as of the A&N Administration also.

KRC: Sir, certainly the Islands have witnessed discernable growth during the last one year under the dynamic leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister and your able Administrations. What are the highlights of the A&N Administration’s achievements during this one year?

Lt Governor: I came to these Islands two years ago, since then, my thrust has been to bring in more development and fulfill the needs and aspirations of the Islanders. During the last one year, a lot of changes have occurred under the dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister and the guidance and support of our Home Minister and other central government ministers. The development that took place in the Islands during the past one year, has overcome the backlog of many decades.

The communication scenario is not very good. As shipping services is our life line, we are operating 84 ships, which are quite old; efforts are being made to bring in new ships. I am happy to say that the Government has agreed to give us two new big ships with a capacity of 1500 and 3 small ships with a capacity of 500, which will be built in India, under ‘Make in India’ concept. We will try our best that our passengers, especially the islanders are provided with better services. To facilitate our Islanders as well as tourists, some measures have been taken in the Aviation sector. First we started with the charter flight service, connecting the remotest District of the country, Nicobar, to the national capital, in a matter of 4 ½ to 5 hours. Besides, charter flight service by AI in Chennai-Port Blair sector and Port Blair-Vishakhapatnam sector has become operational under which Islanders can buy tickets for Rs. 5000 each. These flights are always fully packed. With this, the Islanders as well as tourism activities are hugely benefitted. We expect that night landing facility will be made operational soon and another charter flight from Kolkata will also be made operational. Efforts are also on to start a flight to Phuket with the help of Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industries, so that the frequency of tourists visit to the Islands will increase and our fisheries products can be sold at South East Asian markets. Work is in progress for the new airport and within 2 to 3 years a new airport will be established here in the Islands. Apart from this, two defence airfield strips, one at Campbell bay and one at Diglipur, are being expanded. With its completion by the year end, we shall be operating small ATR aircrafts, thus improving inter island connectivity.

The Health sector of the A&N Islands has been receiving compliments from the people visiting these islands. However, the need for more doctors was always felt. A year back, the A&N Administration, with the help of the central government, took a decision for establishment of a medical college in the Islands. This project was actually pending since last two decades. Today we have obtained the permission of the MCI to start the medical college and the permission from the Central govt. will also be obtained very soon and by July or August, the first batch of Andaman Nicobar Medical College will get admission. This will immensely benefit the Islanders. Patients now need not go to mainland as we have around 100 to 150 specialists with us. Our youth will also be benefitted immensely as out of 100 seats of this Medical College, 70 seats will go to the Islands’ students. In another 10 years, A&N Islands will have 700 doctors, which will show good results for our economy and health services. We also wish to affiliate a Nursing college, one paramedical institute with this Medical College, besides a post graduate institute later on.

The universal health insurance scheme, launched on Jan 26 provides for cashless treatment in specified hospitals in the mainland for the Islanders with an annual income of less than 3 lakhs. They have been covered for medical insurance by the Administration to a tune of Rs. 5 lakh. So far 50 to 60 people have already availed this benefit. With these two major steps, health services in the A&N Islands will be the best in the country.

This apart, the hospital at Garacharma will be upgraded to a district hospital, while many new equipments such as bone density meter and MRI have been procured, one dialysis unit has been established in N&M Andaman to strengthen our Health Services.

We have taken many important steps with regard to education during the last one year. Andaman College, a new college was opened to accommodate the student who could not get admission to the lone college in this District. A new building for this college will also come up soon. In rural Andaman, there was a demand for a community college which has been approved by the HRD Ministry and this community college will start functioning in Ferrargunj, by July. About 422 posts of teachers were suppressed for many years and now approximately 75 to 80% of the vacant posts have been filled up while the leftover posts will also be filled up soon in the most transparent manner. A&N is the only place where all boys and girls have separate toilets in all schools, though some of them need improvement. Sports facilities in A&N Islands are lacking, so our focus will be to improve it.

Connectivity has been a major problem in these Islands as we only have 340-350 mbps bandwidth, which is very inadequate. This was a very important aspect where we focused and important decisions were taken by the Central Govt to tide over this situation. I made an announcement that very soon we will be upgrading to 1 gbps but there was a little delay because of the installation of ground equipment by BSNL. BSNL has been asked by the Govt to increase the bandwidth to 500 mbps by August which should be further increased to 1 gbps bandwidth by September/December.

Another main project is the undersea cable from Chennai to Port Blair and outer islands such As Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Little Andaman and Great Nicobar. The DPR of this project will be finalized by this month end and hopefully by August or September we will get the cabinet approval. And for this 1600 crore rupees has been committed. In another two to three years undersea cable will be at Port Blair and for other important islands microwave link will be established at Havelock, Neil, Nancowry and Long Island. The A&N Islands will be like mainland in another three to four years as far as connectivity is concerned. Once this happens we will be able to take development and entrepreneurial activities to a very high level and this will ultimately change the face of the islands.

Next I would like to talk about infrastructure, power and water supply. Under infrastructure, GOI has taken many important decisions. During the recent visit of Shri Nitin Gadkhari an amount of 540 crore has been sanctioned to start the widening of ATR and building of two bridges and the work has already started and gradually you will see the transformation. Apart from this, 70 Kms road has been improved while many rural roads still need improvement.

People will be surprised to hear that Andaman faces water shortage despite being surrounded by sea on all four sides. To mitigate this problem, the height of the Dhankhari dam was raised and for another 20 years there will not be any water problem in Port Blair. Besides, the Kamsarat Nallah Dam is almost complete and will solve the water problem of Bambooflat residents, which will be inaugurated shortly.

In North Andman at Diglipur, Khudirampur dam foundation stone has been laid and within few years this dam will also be competed. I have directed PWD to make an audit about construction of small check dams for storing water. We have also started two pilot projects for desalination plants which will be set up at Chowra and Mayabunder, so that we can depend on this when there is no rain. As far as electricity is concerned, we all know that 90% electricity is generated through diesel and the cost is very high, Rs 20 to 25 while we are giving the islanders for Rs. 4. per unit. I met the Power Minister, Shri Piyush Goel recently and we have decided that A&N chain will be made the world’s first green chain. It is a big task but the work has started and within three days of our meeting, the Minister sent a team and a meeting was held wherein decisions were taken to install 100 MW Solar power plant in these Islands. To reduce the electricity consumption in Port Blair, we are trying to implement LED project. A&N Islands are a dense forested area hence the power transmission faces a lot of problems, especially during monsoon. The power distribution and power transmission audit has been done and we have identified the weakness and shall try to remove them all, systematically.

KRC: Sir, please tell us something about the Agriculture, Tourism and Fisheries sectors as well.

Lt Governor: Agriculture is a very important component, and the vision of our PM and the Administration is to focus on giving the right attention to farmers. Recently I, along with the Member of Parliament and other political leaders and administrative officers attended a Farmers Panchayat at Diglipur and heard the problems of the farmers. Directions for meeting farmers of all the three districts, every three months, have been issued wherein the Agriculture Secretary and representatives will be called to sort out the problems of the farmers. Farmers at Neil Island, were using excessive fertilizers. Therefore, organic farming was launched there on Feb 1, 2015. The Organic Mission will also be launched in Diglipur, Hutbay etc.

Under Agriculture Department in Diglipur, milk generation and vegetables production is huge, without a market, while Port Blair has shortages of these two products. So with the help of ANIIDCO, both milk and vegetables are being brought to Port Blair. 6000kg vegetables are brought here every month and so far, 30,000 kgs (since December), of vegetables have already been brought to Port Blair. Instead of procuring vegetables from mainland, we are utilizing the vegetables grown in the islands itself.

Under Fisheries, we are taking a lot of important steps, so that we can help our fisher folks. In many places we have made jetties, apart from which two modern fish market will come up in Port Blair, this has been pending for a long time and the work for the same will begin soon. Apart from that, the needs and demands of the fishermen are also being considered earnestly. In the future, deep sea fishing will also be our focus. Tourism is our main sector, with which many people are associated and our focus is to create a unique Andaman Brand under tourism sector. There has been a growth of 17 to 20% in additional tourists visit to the islands. You must have seen that Dolphin resort has been renovated, sound and light show has been started and many other small initiatives have been taken for the islanders as well as the visiting tourists, such as the flea market, musical programmes, island festival etc. With this I hope the islands tourism sector has been boosted and will continue to be so.

Tribals are the original inhabitants of the Islands and for their welfare, in 2014, when the President visited the Islands we established ANTRI and it has now matured and in November 2014 the first national conference was held here, in which national as well as international anthropologists participated. Important papers were presented and based on that actions are being taken. A new policy has been drafted for the Shompen community and it has been sent to the Central Government.

The islands lie in seismic zone 5 and every year in the Andaman Sea and Java Sumatra area 90 to 100 earthquakes occur, besides many cyclones. Today, the A&N Administration is well prepared to tackle any natural disaster. Directions have been issued wherein the Deputy Commissioners will provide relief to victims of any disaster within 30 days.
 

KRC: Sir, is/are there any particular sector(s) in the A&N Islands, where you feel the need for more focused attention in the coming days? If so, which are they and what necessary steps you feel the Administration should take to keep those sectors abreast?

Lt Governor: While focusing on today’s developments, we should not forget about the future. The Administration has appointed a study group after obtaining approval from the Home Minister, under Lt. Gen. Gautam Banerjee (Retd) which will provide us options/suggestions for 2020-2030, where should Andaman be and what sort of development should take place here? What are the areas we need to focus on and by 2020-2030 how we can take Andaman toward further development and what are the changes we want to see.

Here I would like to talk about the future with regard to fisheries. Today, we are able to get only 15 to 20 % catch in fisheries. Under the vision of the PM of blue revolution, we shall try to bring a greater focus, right from catching fish, to preserving, packaging and marketing which will be established here in the Islands. In this direction, steps have already been initiated and I believe in another few years Andaman will become a leading fish centre in our country.

Tourism is another sector where, people who visit the islands are mesmerized by the Islands’ beauty, which according to me does not exist anywhere. Today approximately 3 lakh tourists are visiting the islands and I am hopeful that we will be able to see the figure rise to 5 lakhs in the coming years. We will be taking steps to improve tourism, our aim is to make Andaman an all season tourist destination. Other thing is that we have to improve the infrastructure, apart from private; the Government sector will also establish resorts in certain place though transparent means. Apart from this, development of Neil, Long Island, Little Andaman, Diglipur and various other places are also in focus.

Regarding Skill Development, unemployment of our youth is a challenge and the Govt. has very limited capability to give employment. So, we need to give focus on entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial spirit has to be encouraged. Through GOI’s skill development schemes, many centres will be opened and our youth will be given training and they can be self employed. Once mainland to islands undersea cable is set, our communication problems will be solved and the IT Industry will also flourish. I hope in another four to five years this will become a major hub of IT industries.

Almost 20% of our budget goes into shipping and my vision is to shift the focus to air connectivity from the sea route. It will be really a great achievement if we can see people traveling to mainland by air with the same money that they are spending on ship journey.

Another aspect is the green initiative, I think slowly we have to make the islands 100% green, no other place in the world has such a beautiful environment. It is our responsibility to preserve it for the future generation and therefore we will create harmony between environment and development. Under the vision of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and with the constant support of the Central Govt we shall surely be able to take the Islands forward.

KRC: It is said that the Islands mentality, fosters a status quo mind set; how have you managed to overcome this and move the Islands on the path of positive development?

Lt Governor: Through the vision of our Prime Minister, we see a lot of development taking place in mainland, so how can we be left behind here in A&N Islands? Status quo is not an option for us, we have to move forward. When I came here, I experienced the goodness of the people and the place, but the weakness is that we try to twist everything and there is no concrete forward movement. Being trained in the Army, I tried to take it forward, through a simple leadership style, and I believe, I have succeeded. With the NDA government rule at the centre the Prime Minister has set a clear agenda. I have tried to synergise with the agenda by implementing it. Whatever we did it was all transparent, we incorporated people’s opinion and their concerns and we have even taken the opinion of people who were against the decisions, which has given us more strength. Once I understood that a particular decision is going to benefit the people, with the consent of the Central Government, we have taken the necessary steps. Motivation in leadership plays a pivotal role and it is my responsibility to motivate the Administration and others. Personal example can be seen, I myself work from morning to evening and I am happy to say that normally one file does not stay with me for more than 24 hours. On the file I mention a clear time line and clear objectives and the officer gets a clear guidance. Through this way we are trying to move forward and the result can be seen by the Islanders.

KRC: Sir, what future roadmap have you drawn for taking the Islands forward; and how do you see the Central Govt helping the A&N Administration in translating this dream into reality?

Lt Governor: The A&N Administration has always got the support from the Central Government and I believe that for our future vision and dreams, the Central Government will continue to support us. We are also following the future long term development vision set forth by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The A&N Islands’ strategic importance is another important aspect and we have strengthened it and will continue to do so. A&N Islands is a group of 572 islands spread over 750 km in the Bay of Bengal Sea while only 37 islands are inhabited.

Today, the country’s capability has become strong and we have to move away from a Fortress mentality and treat A&N Islands as a spring board for our engagement with Asia Pacific. It is also the vision of our Prime Minister and I have held discussions with the National Security Advisor and the study group we have appointed will provide us with a clear idea as to how we can take A&N Islands forward by 2020-2030 for the country’s engagement with Indo Pacific and South East Asia. A&N Islands has four centres of gravity and we have to take all the four centres of gravity and move forward.

Firstly, it is about the Strategic Security and there is progress in our Andaman Nicobar Command, Marine Police and their capability will increase further. Secondly, the four lakh population of these islands and their needs and aspirations have to be taken care of. Thirdly, the environment, where our effort will be to protect the environment and sustain it, but not at the cost of development. Fourthly, as you know we are trying to ensure the well being and welfare of our Tribals with the help of specialists in which the policies are approved by the Government and then we implement it. It will also be our desire to create greater awareness about the A&N Islands in our country and also internationally, so that people realize the potential of tourism and the great role played by A&N Islands in our freedom struggle. It will not only become a place of tourism but also a place of pilgrimage for all.

KRC: On the occasion of completion of one year of NDA Govt., what message would you like to give to the Islanders?

Lt Governor: On behalf of the islanders, I would like to thank our Hon’ble Prime Minister for his visionary leadership and support to the islands. I would also like to thank the Home Minister for his constant guidance and support and to all the other Ministries who took the initiative in helping Andaman progress. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our Member of Parliament, the PRIs, political parties and all officers and officials of Andaman and Nicobar Administration, who have really put in their best to create this environment of hope and progress in the last one year. Finally I would like to thank all the citizens of A&N Islands, who have been so wonderful, without whose support we could not have achieved any of this. On this occasion, I remember the quote of Swami Vivekananda ji “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is achieved”. On my part, I assure all the Islanders that I will continue to work with all my being for the development of these Islands and the well being of the Islanders.

Thank you! Jai Hind!