Governance and Development Issues Top
on Our Agenda: Vishal Jolly
The Islands needs either a Legislative
Assembly or a Pradesh Council with executive powers, said Vishal Jolly
addressing a press conference after attending a Conference of Union Territories
held under the aegis of BJP in New
Delhi
He
said that a presentation was made before the national leaders, including Central
Ministers highlighting major issues concerning governance and a roadmap for
future development of the Islands . He also
said that a memorandum has been submitted, which was well received.
On
governance he said that the Islands governed
by a Lieutenant Governor with a team of bureaucrats could never do justice to
the place as well as the people.
"Lack
of a democratic setup is quite visible in the skewed policies framed without
the participation of the Islanders, as well as implementation of various
projects and schemes of Government of India," he said.
Comparing
the financial assistance coming from Central Government and the meager revenue
generated, he blamed the existing system of governance for the state of affairs.
"The
Central Government has been supporting the Islands
with financial assistance to the tune of Rs 4000 crores including Plan and
Non-Plan fund. However, the revenue generated is hardly Rs 240 crores per
annum, just 6.25% of our expenditure," Vishal said.
In
case of an Assembly or Pradesh Council, he suggested that stringent
anti-defection laws needs to be enforced to prevent horse trading, which decides the fate of governments in small
states, and he said that frequent changes in power system is an impediment in
the long term.
On
the existing three tier PRI system, he observed that in a small place it often leads to overlapping
of jurisdiction causing unnecessary duplication. And he suggested replacing
Zilla Parishad electoral constituency by Legislative Assembly to ensure
people's participation in governance.
On
Development front, he said that the Islands need to take advantage of its
geographical location which straddles the maritime gateway to the Bay of Bengal . He
said that the world's busiest shipping lane, Malacca Strait India can
dominate both the Bay of Bengal and play an
important role in Indo-Pacific transit.
He
put forth the idea of a Trans-shipment Port with all allied services at
Campbell Bay, Great Nicobar, Southernmost tip of India, which will go a long
way in harnessing the benefit from the maritime trade along Malacca Strait
hardly 100 kms away.
Referring
to the data provided by Nippon Maritime Centre, Singapore ,
he said that approximately 80,000 merchant shipping vessels carrying cargo and
merchandise transit through the Strait lying close to Campbell Bay Campbell
Bay , the shipping sector would prefer
to utilize the facility which as of now is going to Hambantota
Port , in Sri Lanka
"The
sea draught around Campbell Bay is more than 18 mtrs, which is the deepest in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands , and can draw vessels
of any size and capacity," he said.
He
further added that the trans-shipment port will help India China
Batting
for an independent Shipping Corporation for the Islands, he said that Andaman
and Nicobar Islands have the second largest fleet of about 85 ships after SCI, consisting
of 1200-pax Mainland bound ships as well as small vessels plying within the
islands. The Directorate of Shipping is unable to manage the fleet on
commercial lines and has engaged Shipping Corporation of India Nicobar
Islands .
Out
of around 85 ships, the ratio of non-operational ships are very high due to
lack of proper Ship Repairing Yard. A fully equipped Dockyard would go a long
way in the maintenance of existing vessels as well as a support system for the
trans-shipment port too.
In
tourism sector, he said that Andaman and Nicobar Islands have enormous tourism
potential due to its location as well as the enchanting Islands
with beautiful and virgin beaches.
He
said that a good number of Yacht and Cruise liners intend to reach our shores
how ever due to lengthy and distributed clearance procedures, miniscule of the
yacht and cruise liners ultimately visit the Islands. Not to mention a major
chunk of it goes to other locations like Phuket. He suggested that with the introduction
of a Single-window Online Portal for online application and issuance of permits
for Yacht and Cruise Liners, the process could be made visitor friendly, which
will help in increasing tourism possibilities.
He
also suggested introduction of Visa on Arrival for Tourists at Port Blair
airport as well as Seaport at par with the facility extended to various other
cities of our country, the quantum of foreign tourists visiting the islands
will increase manifold, bringing in more foreign exchange.
Vishal
Jolly said that he has placed the demand to open up more Islands
for tourism.
"There
are many potential Islands , which can be
opened up for tourism. Many Islands, where day-time tourism can be allowed such
as the 14 Islands inside the Mahatma Gandhi Marine
National Park including Grub Island ,
Alexandra, Tarmugli, and Mahua
Dera Islands
Demanding
sufficient infrastructure, he said that many other Islands remain out of the
tourism orbit due to lack of connectivity and infrastructure such as Madhuban
(South Andaman), Avis Island (Middle Andaman), Ross and Smith (Diglipur)
and Hut Bay
He
also put forth the idea of two or three Tourism Circuits involving three or
more islands wherein tourists could enjoy boat rides and Island camping like Port
Blair - Havelock - Long Island - Diglipur, Port
Blair - Hut Bay
On renewal of Palm Oil Cultivation, presently
abandoned, he suggested that it needs to be revived and modernised.
"Presently
our country import edible oil to the tune of Rs 1 Lakh Crores, in foreign
exchange. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands which also falls in the same
Geographic region of South East countries like Malaysia
and Indonesia
The
existing A & N Forest Development Corporation has large area under Red Oil
Palm cultivation in Little Andaman, which is in bad shape and was abandoned due
to various reasons such as low yield. The employees are now depending on
Government grant for salaries. It could be revived with plantation of improved
and high yielding varieties of Red Oil Palm. Modern machineries, tools and
techniques as in South East Asian countries could be used to revive the Red Oil
Palm industry which will also generate high amount of bio-mass," he said.
He
also said that the review of the recommendations of Shekhar Singh Commission is
on the anvil.
"On
Tourism and Fisheries, two sectors heavily dependent on seafront activities from
stringent CRZ Norms, I have suggest that these two mainstay sectors need to be
exempted from the norms, so that more infrastructural development comes up
bringing more revenue," he said.
On
the issue of tsunami affected farmers, Vishal said that soon some positive news
will come from Delhi
On
Domicile issue, he informed that he has demanded to put in place Domicile
Criteria for local jobs by promulgating the Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Regulation and thereafter fill
up the available vacancies in Govt. Departments in a time bound manner.
Apart
from the above issues, Vishal said that the demand for ST status for Ranchi
Replying
to a question on exorbitant airfare in Mainland-Island sector, he said that he
has spoken to the Lieutenant Governor to also involve private players for chartering
flights, as Air India
Citing
the achievements of the new government, he said that Medical
College , Andaman
College , Chartered Flight, Revamping
of Sports in the Islands were a few major
steps.
Vishal
also requested the Administration to simplify the procedures in Revenue
department, so that common man is not unnecessarily harassed by the officials
citing rules and regulations.
