The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday urged the Union government to take immediate steps to provide a Legislative Assembly for the Andaman and Nicobar islands on the Puducherry model to fulfil the aspirations of the people.
Noting with concern that bureaucrats reigned supreme in the island territory acting on their own whims and fancies, the party congress, through a resolution, said that while people had no say at all in the governance of the Union Territory, the budget allotted by the Centre was also not being properly used for the benefit of the public.
“This came under sharp focus in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and consequently, relief and rehabilitation suffered severely.”
A long-pending demand
The local people had been demanding the establishment of a legislative Assembly for many years.
Attempts by party MPs to raise the issue had not yielded result in the absence of a positive response from successive governments at the Centre.
“Significantly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on his visit to the islands, had assured an all-party meeting that this demand would be given due consideration,” the party said.
Keywords: CPI(M) party Congress, 20th CPI(M) Congress, Andaman Legislative Assembly, Andaman and Nicobar governance
Despite lapse of 7 full years the tragedy struck, farmers from rural
South Andaman whose fields/landholdings got submerged are yet to get
compensated. Even the visit of union Home Minister to these islands
could not yield a penny in the name of compensation. Such is the
plight of the tsunami affected in these islands.
The affected have no where to raise their dissenting voice, nor there
is anyone who bothers to listen to their plight.
It is earnestly believed, Legislative Assembly or the erstwhile
Pradesh Parishad will go a long way in providing an appropriate forum
for the peoples of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the all
necessary means to have their say in the affairs of governance of this
UT.
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