Delist Sea Cucumber and Trochus from Wildlife Act: Report

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

Delist Sea Cucumber and Trochus 

from Wildlife Act: Report 

By Zubair Ahmed

The Committee constituted to holistically address the issue of poaching in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the MoEF, Govt of India has suggested delisting of species of local livelihood importance like Sea cucumber and Trochus from the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 after due scientific assessment. The report says that the collection of these species could thereafter be allowed based on strict scientific parameters including fixing of quotas, period and season of collection, maturity, reproductive cycles, etc.

The Committee has submitted its report to Government of India which has proposed a three pronged strategy which includes tightening and improving the protection regime for conservation of marine resources, taking care of the livelihoods of local fisher folk, both qualitatively and quantitatively so as to increase their stake in conservation of marine biodiversity, and to open a diplomatic channel with the Government of Myanmar to address the issue of ingress of its illegal fishers (poachers) into the waters and shores of A&N Islands with a view to finding a solution to this problem and stop the illegal practice jointly.

The Islands are very rich in biodiversity, harbouring unique endemic life forms. The marine biodiversity includes marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, dugong; marine turtles; estuarine or salt water crocodile; fishes; prawns and lobsters; corals; sea shells including rare and endangered Trochus species and Giant Clam Shells and numerous other marine life forms including coelenterates and echinoderms etc.

Economically also, many of the above species are highly valuable and some of them such as sea cucumbers, sea-shells, sharks, marine turtles, salt water crocodiles etc. are under severe pressure of over exploitation from illegal foreign fishing boats and poachers. Historically, these species had been exploited by people from neighbouring countries, mainly due to the low protective cover and low priority accorded to conservation of the marine biodiversity in general by the enforcement agencies of the country.

Despite the concerted efforts by various departments and agencies like Wildlife Wing, Coastal Police Stations and Coast Guard, the very availability of rich marine resources attracts foreign poachers to Indian territorial waters. Although, the enforcement agencies routinely apprehend several foreign poachers, it is believed that a large number of them get away undetected. Most of the poachers are habitual offenders and had been in Indian prisons several times. It has been observed that the western part of the Andaman Islands was the most vulnerable to poaching and also that the volume of the poaching has considerably increased over the years inspite of the best efforts by the Administration to contain the problem. Further, it is also believed that the problem of foreign poachers in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has a long history, and there are a large number of ethnic people of Myanmar origin settled in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These people are believed to be often conniving with the poachers.

It has been observed that although there was good population of Sea Cucumbers in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, there were contradicting reports of the status of the species as a whole in the country's waters. Therefore, there is need for carrying out detailed scientific study on the population status of Sea Cucumbers. The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), who has the required wherewithal for carrying out such scientific studies, is being requested for undertaking the study. The report of ZSI would be dovetailed with this report, as soon as the same is received from ZSI. A similar study on Trochus niloticus, would also be taken up.

The reduction in forestry operations has reduced the employment opportunities considerably for the local people of islands. It may be added that this sector was one of the biggest local employers for the last five decades. Subsequent ban on certain marine species after their inclusion in the Scheduled lists of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 has also adversely affected the livelihoods of the fishers community in the last decade.

The Committee recommends adoption of a comprehensive strategy with certain measures to be taken up immediately to curb illegal poaching of precious wildlife.

The committee suggests imparting training to the frontline staff for wildlife management, especially in patrolling and protection of marine areas and its biodiversity, including training in SCUBA diving. 

Procurement of specialized tools and skills for the protection of marine wildlife that will strengthen the enforcement efficiency of the staff in effectively controlling marine poaching. 

Enhancing the incentives to the frontline staff and their families to motivate them to be more dedicated and committed towards their duties.

The enforcement machinery comprising Forest, Wildlife, Revenue, Coastal Police departments and the Coast Guard should also be equipped with specialized infrastructural facilities like mechanized boats, communication equipments, etc to quickly and effectively address poaching.

These Departments should also be provided with adequate manpower and sizable budgetary support to improve human, technological and material resources.

Employment opportunities by filling up 200 posts of Forest Watcher which are lying vacant in the Department due to absence of forestry operations.

Improvement in fishing techniques of fishers through capacity building and training in modern methodologies of fishing including the use of sophisticated fishing gear as well as providing them with such gear.

Capacity building and provisions for adoption of alternative livelihoods by fishers.

The total project financial requirement is estimated at Rs 5946.50 lakhs

The progress made in implementation of the programme will be monitored using target achievement indicators, such as the number of officials trained, number of training programmes conducted, number of poachers apprehended, number/quantity/value of items seized, etc.

PAUPER’S LOG: Shanty Town

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

PAUPER’S LOG      
Shanty Town

By Abu Arsh

Not many need an introduction to Slumdog Millionaire, a movie based on Dharavi slums in Mumbai as a backdrop which fetch us 3 Oscar Awards. Leaving the millionaire aside (as most of us in our lifetime cannot dream of being one), the term Slumdog does arouse our conscious. If the passion it has aroused could be directed towards a mass movement to combat the evils of the slum and to eliminate the slums altogether in stages, that would be an appropriate response to the movie.   We are made to believe in the falsity that there is no poverty in A&N Islands; we have a clean and serene environment. Few of us may argue that there are in excess of 10000 rural Below Poverty Line households in our UT. There is also a sizeable bunch of people who live in Urban hell holes which otherwise can be called slums of A& N Islands. Many of the inhabitants of these shanty localities may not be exactly poor but the conditions they live in are highly repulsive. 

Though the entire Port Blair town has some natural lush green surroundings, it can be said that things here are not planned aesthetically or with a vision for any future expansion. This green cover and open spaces are fast eroding. Our markets are cramped, roads are insufficient, drains are clogged and buildings are stuffed close to each other. That too- with all the rules and regulations governing building construction in place under the watchful eye of the Administration. Amidst all this muck are localities which would give slums anywhere else in India a run for its money. Localities in Haddo, Junglighat, Dairy Farm, Aberdeen, Anarkali, Nayagaon, Bhatubasti, Patharguda, Austinabad, Shorepoint, Bambooflat, Hopetown- to name a few would be a nightmare for planners of urban and suburban/rural areas. These localities are colonies of economic migrants mostly from Andhra, Tamil Nadu and now from Bangladesh too.

These slums are commonly seen as "breeding grounds" for social problems such as alcoholism, high rates of mental illness, and suicide. They exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care. They have inadequate access to safe water; inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; poor structural quality of housing; overcrowding; and insecure residential status. These slum dwellers live in very narrow alleys that do not allow vehicles (like ambulances and fire trucks) to pass. The lack of services such as routine garbage collection allows rubbish to accumulate in huge quantities. The lack of infrastructure is caused by the informal nature of settlement and no planning for the poor. Additionally, these settlements often face the brunt of natural and man-made disasters, such as landslides, as well as earthquakes and tropical storms. Fires can be a serious problem. These people have been off the Administrations radar on purpose as of now and only a major mishap will wake them up. 

Many of these slum dwellers employ themselves in skilled-unskilled labour, fishing, domestic work and street vending. In some of these slums people even recycle trash of different kinds (from household garbage to electronics) for a living - selling either the odd usable goods or stripping broken goods for parts or raw materials. These localities add up being an eye sore for tourists who come visiting the islands. Rural depopulation with thousands migrating into Port Blair from outside makes slum clearance an uphill struggle. 

As these slum dwellers have the numbers, they become the cynosure of local politician's eyes. They play an important role especially in the elections for local self governance bodies. They are allowed to spring up unauthorized colonies on govt. land, need no building plans, no setback or follow any bye-laws. Power and water can be made available or is stolen with the blessings of corrupt officials and politicians. A religious building will come up in these slums at important location functioning as a hub. Nomenclature of these slums will bear names of national level leaders of ruling parties. Identity cards and all benefits of various safety net initiatives by the govt. will be delivered at their doorsteps. What more can a Shanty town offer? This is not a matter of wanting to shove reality under the carpet.

Administrator's Advisory Council Meeting: Bagful of Surprises

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

Administrator's Advisory Council Meeting

Bagful of Surprises

By Staff Reporter

The first meeting of the Administrator's Advisory Council of Andaman and Nicobar Islands was held under the Chairmanship of the Lt. Governor, Bhopinder Singh on 17th of this month.

The three and half hour meeting had deliberations on many relevant issues pertaining to the development of the Islands. However the skirmish between the MP and the Administration once again came to the fore with the MP demanding a proper seat for him as per the protocol.

On land reforms, once again the MP was confronted by P. Prasad, Adhyaksh, Zilla Parishad, Madhyottar Andaman. When the MP raised the issue of Buffer Zone, Prasad said that the Buffer Zone issue is the contribution of the MP and he had raised the issue in Parliament about the Gora Bacha born in the Jarawa tribe. He also blamed Bishnu for the double talk.

The LG informed the gathering that the issue of Land Reforms is under serious consideration and the amended Regulations will be notified very soon.

Speaking to LOA, TSG Bhaskar, President, ACCI said that there are many shortcomings in the Land Regulation. He specifically mentioned about the limit of the SDM for conversion of land. The Chamber of Commerce had suggested that SDM may convert land upto 4000 sq mtrs and beyond that a committee has to approve with the permission of the Administrator. However, Bhaskar informed that the LG has modified the draft and reduced the authority of SDM to upto 500 sq mtrs, which is ridiculous. On the other hand, he informed that LG has arbitrarily approved conversion of large tracts of land belonging to bigwigs like Taj, Soma, Rose Valley and even in Long Island without the approval of the committee. It's harassment for the local businessmen as well as tourism and hotel industry.

The PRI representatives also demanded that the excess and encroached land of tsunami affected farmers and the Pre-78 encroachers need to be regularised.

Mohammed Shafiq, Pramukh, Panchayat Samiti, Ferrargunj suggested a Four-lane Marine Drive connecting Shore Point, Hathi Tapu, Mithakhari and Minnie Bay through seashore. The Lt Governor and Chief Secretary was impressed by the idea and asked the engineering wing of ALHW to inspect the feasibility without further delay. It is learnt that a team of engineers visited the area on Tuesday.

Kuldeep Rai Sharma, President, ANTCC raised the issue of the revised convoy system in which the convoy pilot bikes ply at a speed of 20 kms creating huge delay as well as inconvenience to the passengers. The Lieutenant Governor informed the committee that the convoy was revised and reduced to convince Supreme Court that the Admn is taking steps to regulate traffic on ATR. He also said that ATR cannot be closed, but the traffic on the road need to be regulated to comply with the Supreme Court Order or it will result in closure of ATR.

Sharma also sought the intervention of the Administration in locating alternate quarry site for Brookshabad as the site cannot provide stones for more than a couple of years. He also said that the hillock is damaged irreversibly due to quarrying, which had played a major role in checking the tsunami waters from destroying Port Blair city. The Lieutenant Governor informed that about 15 quarries have been given NOC from Pollution Control Board to operate and he also informed that the price of quarry products will be stabilized very soon. On the demand of Panchayat Samithis for allotment of quarry, the Lieutenant Governor informed that both Panchayat Samitis of Ferrar Gunj and Prothrapore will be allotted quarries as well as 500 sq mtrs of land close to the quarry site for setting up Crusher Units, which will check pollution.

On water supply, LG informed the gathering that the pipelines will be replaced wherever required. Firdosh Bibi, Chairperson, PBMC demanded the Administration to construct a parking space in front of Directorate of Industries between Bengali Club and Goal Ghar.

The Lt. Governor stated that the Administration is focussing on inclusive growth of the islands so that all the three districts of the islands embark on the development path on equal footing. He felt that "Development of the Islands should not be restricted to Port Blair and its vicinity and additional resources would be provided to the North & Middle Andaman and Nicobar District to bring these districts at par with South Andaman." He also laid emphasis on the need for working together by PRIs, Public representatives and Administration so that the islands can march towards faster development.

Besides deliberating on developmental issues, many other important issues pertaining to the land, shipping, education, health, fisheries, transport and tourism were also discussed. He also assured that monthly or quarterly review meetings will be conducted to evaluate the progress of various projects discussed in the meeting.

Apart from the MP, representatives of political parties, PRIs, Tribal Council and Chamber of Commerce, selected NGOs and Civil Society representatives also participated in the meeting.

EDITORIAL: Are We - The People - Fools?

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011


EDITORIAL
Are We - The People - Fools?

The manner in which Congress managed to engineer victory in all local body elections - Zilla Parishads in South Andaman and Madhyottar Andaman - has brought to the fore the need for a potent Anti-Defection Law. Although in both cases, BJP had only synthetic majority, without much fuss, PRIs members changed stables, putting Congress in a very comfortable position.
It seems irrational why elections are fought on party lines, when candidates after winning elections defect without a second thought. Or, the people, who repose faith on this set of politicians and cast their vote for their party irrespective of whoever the candidates are, find themselves cheated and deserted. In fact, if they leave the party, they should have the guts to go back to the electorate and seek fresh mandate. But surprisingly, the electorate too suffers from limited amnesia, forgetting and forgiving every five years.
The Member of Parliament, who won election on a BJP seat is now party-less. Recently, from Campbell Bay to Diglipur, there is a continuous defection of elected PRIs from BJP to Congress and the flow continues unabated. It reminds of the times of Nehchal Singh, who would not give tickets to anyone and ask them to come back victorious to join Congress, a simple ball game.
In fact, in every election, Congress party rebels have been winning elections and they finally land up at the party door once they fight and win elections on their own might.
The sordid state of political parties is to be blamed for this squalor. BJP, which appears to be a paper tiger recently, has been all over the media with four or five press releases daily. In fact, there is a competition inside the party in issuing press statements. When they advised the administration to save face by taking into consideration the demands of a Pradhan before the visit of its leader, Lal Krishna Advani, are they in a just position to explain the status of their party to their leader when he lands here?
Congress need not fight elections anymore. They can run the bodies default with the defectors galore, who join soon after the elections. Why do almost everyone joins Congress? Is there something which is invisible to the naked eye? The defectors might know the reason.
With BJP losing members on a daily basis, what Bishnu Pada Ray once said proves right. Sab Khotam Kar Diya… Party Ko. Is it a sign that Bishnu will be back to lift the party from the predicament it has forced itself into. He still has wellwishers inside the party.

Land Regulations: A Flashback

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

Land Regulations: A Flashback

Out of a total geographical area of 8249 sq. km. of A&N Islands, 86% belonged to forest department and 14% was revenue land before Tsunami. The revenue land of Andamans district before the bifurcation of the districts was 77, 942.05 hects. and that of Nicobars District was 4530.34 hects.

History of settlement in these islands dates back to 1789 with actual settlement in these islands that started after the first freedom struggle of 1857 under the occupation of British. They used to deport hard core convicts and freedom fighters to these islands. The life was very miserable since the islands were full of snakes, forest, incessant rains making the land marshy and muddy causing deadly diseases like Malaria. Some of the prisoners who chose to settle here were given land, and such allotments were demarcated and the first comprehensive survey was conducted in 1926.

In the past, to regulate the tenure of the land in these islands, a Regulation called the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Land Tenure) Regulation 1926 was enacted and was in vogue from 15th March 1926.  According to this, all the land in the Islands was vested absolutely in 'His Majesty' and saved as provided by under Section 3 of this Regulation. The said Regulation was repealed by another regulation defined as A&N Islands Land Revenue and Land Reforms Regulation, 1966 promulgated by the President of India and rules framed thereunder were A&N Islands LR and LRR, 1968 which came into effect from 1st April 1968.  Under the 1966 and 1968 Regulations, all the land in the islands vests absolutely in the Government. Thus nobody has ownership on the land, but the allottees are tenants of the Government under classified categories namely Non-Occupancy Tenant, Occupancy Tenant, Grantee and Licensee.

The procedure for allotment of land for various purposes under various categories are laid down under the provisions of section 146 of the Regulation read with Rule 170 to 175. House sites and agricultural plots are allotted to the poor and landless persons after obtaining applications from them. In the past, when the land -man ratio of these islands was satisfactory, there was no specific quantum of land fixed for allotment. Earlier the locals and Bengali settlers were given land as per the agreed communication with the parties and the government. But later the situation deteriorated and in 1994-95 the Andaman District made a target for allotment of 2000 house sites for which 35,000 applications were received. What happened to the entire process is still in smokes.

Following the instructions of Government of India the Administration considered regularisation of pre-1978 encroachments on revenue and forest land. 7212 encroachment cases were finalised by issue of licenses to the persons found to be in possession of government revenue land on a date prior to 31-12-1978.

The then Lt. Governor, A&N Islands in Oct 1993 had categorically instructed the Revenue Authorities, "Under no circumstances, encroachments committed after the cut-off date will be encouraged or regularized. I would like to see that all such encroachments are removed and tackled with an iron hand" Who will have this 'Iron Hand' was not clear and as a result since last 10 years more than 5000 encroachments have taken place, many under the nose of obvious authority of the 'Iron Hand'.   

Jugglery of Revenue Records

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

Jugglery of Revenue Records

By Basudev Dass

After a sincere and honest career in Police Department, Mr. S Prasad, a junior ranked police personnel (now late) on his retirement approached the then Lt Governor for a piece of land for construction of a house. After observation of a spate of formalities he was allotted a piece of 200 sq.m  of land somewhere in Protherapore village. The retired person when visited the spot with the land-license bearing the survey number found the land too sloppy to be of any use as he could have hardly extract 60-70 sq. mtrs. land out of it, else paying a hefty amount as labour cost. He started approaching the revenue authorities for an alternative land and in the course literary exhausted the sole of his old shoes. The honest but stubborn person did not lose hope and faith on the system and finally found an official who promised to help him. Mr. Prasad met the official with his copy of the license he was given against his allotted land of Protherapore.

The official spread the worn and torn sheet of map of the area and started finding the survey number Mr. Prasad's license was carrying. He was successful in his attempt and located the survey number on the map. With a piece of broken blade he scratched the number to make it indecipherable.  He then did the same with another survey number on the map and with a dark lead pencil on the map   he wrote the same survey number the license carried.  The survey number in the license was not changed but now, Mr. Prasad with the same survey number on his license was owner of a genuine piece of house site.

The affair was not put to a halt there. The poor man applied to the District Administration for construction assistance under the Low Income Housing Scheme of Government of India from the District Administration which was managing the fund. An amount was sanctioned and the first installment was also handed over to Mr. Prasad against the License and survey number. The poor person managed some labourers and prepared the land for further construction activity when he was suddenly called by a senior official of the revenue department alongwith the license. Mr. Prasad when reached to the official, he was asked to show the original to which he complied. The official took the original license in pretext of examination of financial assistance extended to him, kept the same in his office drawer directing Mr. Prasad to collect the same after a week.  Without a slightest hesitation, poor Mr. Prasad handed over the license to the official but never to get back the same. Nth number of time he approached the said official and others with no result. And ultimately, he died without owning a roof of his own over his head.

Digitization of Old Records is Not Land Reforms: Sethumadhavan

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

Digitization of Old Records is Not Land Reforms: Sethumadhavan

Sethumadhavan, a retired Revenue Officer and President of Island Forum for Development, Justice and Protection of Environment, A&N Islands' is a stalwart in revenue matters concerning land rules and regulations. Speaking to LOA, he was surprised by the move of the Administration in setting the land records right in a reverse process, which cannot do any justice. "Any survey without recognizing the boundaries will not have any locus standi," he said.

By Zubair Ahmed

Why do you think that the survey process initiated by the Administration to set the records right will not work?

The first settlement in ANI took place in South Andaman Island. But the persons settled here and their successors do not have proper land records. The law of the land insists to prepare fresh land records every 30 years. The land record presently maintained by the revenue department is prepared in the year 1962. Except some cases, the field boundaries that were surveyed and depicted in the records does not agree with that of the ground due to frequent developments such as construction of road, change in the course of nallahs, dispossession etc. There are accumulated mistakes continuing since 1929. What the Administration is doing is just copying the old records and digitizing it. The records are erratic. The new Regulation came into effect in 1966, about 45 years back. So far no survey stones are planted in the field boundaries as per the specifications laid in the regulations. How can it be possible to prepare land records on the basis of physical possession of each tenant?

The Administration needs to first recognize the boundaries of each plot and plant survey stones on each plot as per the provisions laid in the regulations. Simple digitization of old records cannot be called land reforms. Excess land has to be identified and process initiated to regularize it based on merit.

Why is the situation so worse?

I can recount an incident that happened with me. In Mayabunder, apart from Karen Settlement, there are villages where local convict settlements were created. Pokhadera, Danapur and Rampur are the villages where agricultural land was allotted by Forest Department without any survey. Later, when the villages were transferred as Revenue villages, Forest Department transferred the rent records to Revenue Department. In 1960, when a survey was initiated, it was found that most of the tenants had large tracts of excess land under possession. Persons with 5 acres had 10 acres in possession and they were not even aware about it. The issue was raised in the Chief Commissioner's Advisory Committee. In 1966, while preparing new records, an order was passed to regularize the excess land of the Pre-61 settlers.  Cases were prepared and submitted to Deputy Commissioner's office. In a fire accident in DC office, all case files were destroyed. The issue was kept in abeyance.

In 1978, when the issue of land allotment was raised again, Govt of India issued an order that those without land should be allotted upto 1 ha for agricultural purposes, 350 sq mtr for house site in rural area and 200 sq mtr for house site in urban area. However, the cases of Pre-61 cases remained out of the ambit of this order as all of them possessed land. Their cases once again remained pending.

In 1986, I was the Tehsildar in Mayabunder and the there was indirect pressure from all quarters to include the Pre-61 cases with Pre-78 cases. But, it was not possible as it was an illegal act. These cases could not be considered under the guidelines. If an order was issued by Government of India, the issue could have been settled. But, nobody was interested. It could have been taken up under Section 2-12 of the Regulation. However, the Administration did not do it. I did try to open their eyes towards the pathetic situation. The issue is still pending to date. The records of the villagers do not agree with the ground reality.

The Administration had taken up the issue of regularization of excess land of Pre-42 settlers? What do you think about it?

First of all, Pre-42 settlers are not based in Port Blair only. The whole exercise was eyewash. Only seven villages up to Junglighat were taken up and the selected persons were given fresh licenses. The list of cases of regularization made an interesting reading. There were several cases where the area regularized was in single digit. The smallest area was just two square meters.

These cases were pending ever since the land was allotted to the tenants during the last century. During the first survey conducted in 1961 after independence, over a thousand tenants were found to be in occupation of in excess of their allotment. Ever since, the matter was pending regularization though the land of later migrants were regularized without any fuss.

There are so many Pre-42 settlers in the rural villages. Why is Administration not settling the cases?

Do you think, Survey Settlement Wing under the Deputy Commissioner is capable of carrying out this massive exercise?

The Deputy Commissioner handles more than 20 subjects. It is impossible to carry out such a massive exercise by the Deputy Commissioner. What I suggest is to separate the Survey Settlement Wing from DC and place them under a senior IAS officer who is appointed as Settlement Commissioner for the whole Union Territory of ANI from All India Cadre to control and supervise the Revenue Survey Operation so that the fund allocated to Revenue Survey and Settlement will not be misused.

The Survey Settlement Operation is a continuous process and the staff attached to it such as surveyors, head surveyors, Asst Land Record Officers come under the Settlement Wings of the Revenue Administration and mainly for the construction of land records while the other Revenue staff like Patwari, Revenue Inspector etc are only for maintenance of land records supplied to them during the term of settlement.

The Administration has outsourced the survey and digitization of land records to a private firm.

First of all, the body or firm conducting survey should be a quasi-judiciary body. And, when the land records are in contradiction with the ground reality, how are they going to resurvey. As I said earlier, without recognizing the boundaries, if they survey, those boundaries will not be acceptable. Moreover, if they are just copying the old land records and digitizing it, it does not serve any purpose.

It is learnt that the firm has conducted survey and digitization in Rajasthan. The issue is entirely different here. In Rajasthan, the land is owned by the tenants. In our Island territory, land belongs to the Government. In Rajasthan, there is no issue of contradictory records like we have. The whole exercise is futile.

COVER STORY: Land Reforms: The Unscripted Saga

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011

COVER STORY:

Land Reforms: The Unscripted Saga

Since the British left the Islands, Revenue Department has been trying to set right the anomalies in the land records. Lack of willpower as well as knowledge to rectify the archaic Regulations and Rules has turned the department into a den of corruption.

By Basudev Dass

Seven years have passed after the islands witnessed the dreaded Tsunami. The country in general and the islands in particular exhausted almost all its strength to assist the affected tribal brethren in connection with the reconstruction of A&N Islands. The people in South Andaman are still in a catch-22 situation and the islands' Administration is in a fix whether to compensate the affected farmers and other villagers whose land has been permanently engrossed by sea or to give them land in lieu of their loss! The Revenue Department has no land with them since large portion of land falls under deemed forest and is banned by the Forest Department and the rest have been encroached by encroachers with connivance of the Revenue authorities.

Whether the Revenue authorities have record of its own land encroached or not, the fact remains that if a proper survey is done and all post 1978 encroachment are evicted, the Island Administration will not only be in a position to rehabilitate all the tsunami victims by allotting land but also will be left with surplus land for future use.

The Administration in fact is not sincere in its effort to have its land area surveyed and to prepare proper land records. Having a considerable fleet of human resource, the Administration has outsourced the survey of land work in Ferrargunj Tehsil of South Andaman District to determine the area occupied by each tenant - allottee or encroacher. "This is an impossible task since the occupant may have occupied excess land than that of the allotted area," said Sethumadhavan a retired Revenue Officer and presently the President of Island Forum for Development, Justice and Protection of Environment, A&N Islands.

The boundaries were recognised some 40 years back in rural areas of South Andaman by conducting a survey in accordance with the Notification issued by the A&N Administration at that point of time on the basis of Andaman and Nicobar Island Land Revenue and Land Reforms Regulation 1926. But in respect of urban area (area under PBMC), the Revenue Department of the Islands is still working on the basis of land records prepared by British India Government as per the provisions of A&N Land Tenure Regulation 1926, which has since been repealed after promulgation of A&N Islands LR & Land Reforms Regulation 1966.  Later, the Rule was repealed in 1968. No land records as specified under the new regulation has yet been prepared by giving opportunity to the tenants as required under the section 91 of 1966 Regulation.

On 19th March 1968, the then Chief Commissioner Mr. Mahavir Singh had directed the Revenue Authorities to undertake revenue survey operation in South Andaman, Rangat, Mayabunder and Diglipur Tehsils. The South Andaman Tehsil then had both Port Blair and Ferrargunj Tehsil together.

The process of undertaking the survey and settlement activity is termed as Time of Settlement and once the activity is completed and the result is notified it is defined as Term of Settlement. The Government of India has fixed the Term of Settlement for a period of 30 years. After the expiry of the Term of Settlement the Land Records should be reconstructed every 30 years by carrying out fresh survey and settlement operation.

The people of South Andaman even today fully depend on the old revenue records prepared in Urdu language during the period between 1926 and 1929. The then Lt. Governor Mr. Vakkom Purushotaman in a seminar on "District Revenue Machinery" organised by the  Revenue Department in October 1993 exclaimed, " I am surprised to know that the land records in many parts of Port Blair town area which were finalized in 1929 are still in use and no new records have been prepared till date. These records have become very shabby, defaced, worn out and are in bad shape. Such records also give ample opportunity to the mischief-mongers to manipulate and distort the facts". The situation remains same as on date. It is also worth-mentioning that a 12-point suggestive direction was listed by the Lt. Governor in the seminar to be one "without delay" lead by the  points such as 'Survey and Settlement operations where pending are expedited' and 'computerization of land records to be taken up on a War Footing.' 18 years have since passed and the things are still in a state of disarray.

It is reported that the Administrator's Advisory Council under the chairmanship of the present Lt. Governor in its meeting on 17th of this month had kept on its agenda to discuss the finalization of survey of land record of Port Blair. Reports say that the work will be taken only once the Settlement operation of Ferrargunj Tehsil recently taken up is over. This will require another 4-5 years through outsourcing and by the time the present bureaucratic set up will be transferred back to NCR and the issue will remain pending forever. This dilly-dallying activity is in practice since time immemorial and the worst sufferers are law abiding citizens of the islands who would neither dare to encroach nor involve in any gratification activity.

It is not that the present Chief Executive of the Revenue Department does not exert enough interest in delivering results. In many cases he even has asked explanation from his deputies for non compliance of his directions of not registering a sale deed, non submission of report concerning grant of Bar License to resorts. He could have focused his attention on the basic work of "Survey and Settlement" of Land Records of Port Blair Urban area, which having began in 1967 is still in 'Time of Settlement'!

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in one of his addresses had expressed, "For a poor person, for a small person, for the weak person, a Land Record is a weapon. It is not just a record, it is not just a piece of paper or not one entry tucked away somewhere in the Tehsil Office, but is a weapon to him. You are giving a weapon in his hands. If he has no weapon, he has no way of fighting the more influential sections of the society………..Therefore, giving him land should also be followed by giving him the right in the shape of a 'Record' ……"  

PAUPER’S LOG Thirsty Paradise: Natural or Manmade?

PAUPER’S LOG

Thirsty Paradise: 

Natural or Manmade?

By Abu Arsh

Availability of potable water is a major concern for the inhabitants of an island environment. There are some subtle and obvious issues which need to be given attention while addressing the challenges of providing potable water to inhabitants of islands. A&N islands have seen deliberations on this subject since ages and no tangible solution is at sight. Our Islands are dependent on rainwater harvesting to meet majority of its potable water requirement. Proper sanitation is not possible without adequate water and improper sanitation runs risk of contaminating water sources. Recent water shortages can squarely be attributed to man made factors. There has been consistent mismanagement and pilferage of this natural resource over the years. Growth in the Islands population, tourism and industrial /construction uses have contributed to water shortages.

National Water Policy 2002 recognises water 'a basic human need'. This basic human need at present is made available to us islanders at a premium. Curtailment of water supply to as much as only 2 times a week for 20 minutes a day does not surprise many in summer season. Presently water is supplied on alternate days for an hour with water trickling from taps at a rate where a drum can only become half full. Water supply in Port Blair is maintained by PBMC and in rural areas by APWD. Their lower category staffs have devised means to black market water. A period of acute water shortage surfaced after Tsunami of 2004 due to breakages in the main water pipelines. This gave ample scope for the supervisors and linemen to device ways in putting up a price for their services. This practice has become prevalent predominantly in Municipal areas. Staffs adjust valve settings of water distribution lines to suit their bribing clients and hang around their personal tanks, making sure each of them overflows. This maneuver greatly helps in watering lawns, mopping granite floors and washing grime off cars for our insatiable rich citizens. At the same time a law abiding subscriber of PBMC or APWD fret at erratic water supply in his tap unable to top up his water pot, cook his meal or maintain personal hygiene. Unattended leaking pipes and valves too are a common sight in Port Blair and rural areas.

The islands receive copious rainfall to the tune of about 3000 mm. per year. About 95 percent of annual rainfall is received during May-December (2250 mm in May- September during southwest monsoon and 685 mm in October-December during northeast monsoon). Present availability of water resource in the urban area of Port Blair is 17.79 million litres per day (MLD). This is mainly by storage in Dhanikhari dam. As per the status of water supply (Economic Survey of A&N Islands, 2007-08), the available water supply in A&N Islands is 49.62 MLD indicating an excess of 10.27 MLD whereas the projected demand for 2020 is 53.91 MLD showing a shortfall of 4.56 MLD. It is interesting to note that the present and projected (by 2020) shortfall in water supply in urban Port Blair alone are 9.38 MLD and 19.67 MLD, respectively. These statistics need pondering and judicious utilisation measures adopted. 

For development of water resources in the urban and rural Port Blair, raising of Dhanikhari dam by 5 m, sweet water lake at Sippighat, Rutland water supply project, desalinisation plant at Port Blair, dam on Kamsrat Nallah, have been taken up. Majority of these projects have hit road blocks and are yet to take off or alternatively are progressing at snails pace.

In a seminar post-Tsunami, a paper by Santha Sheela Nair, Secretary, Drinking Water Supply; New Delhi titled 'Possible Alternatives for Sustainable Sanitation and Safe drinking water supply in islands with specific reference to Andaman & Nicobar Islands'- specified government guidelines while planning water systems on the Andaman Islands. A few key points from the paper were- Sustainability should be evaluated from source, technology, financial and social aspects. The current water supply system needs to be decentralised for augmentation taking into consideration the seismic risks, scattered-increasing population and climate change. Individual and community roof-water harvesting is an ideal decentralised system of providing safe drinking water. Generate awareness and capacity of community towards creating healthy living conditions by promoting eco-sanitation. Not much of it has been given serious thought by our planners.

MAIL | BOX We Have an Alcoholic Friendly Administration

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 15 | 7 OCT 2011

MAIL | BOX

We Have an Alcoholic Friendly Administration

The article 'Lets make our islands Liquor free' by Yasmeen Shabnam under the column 'Your Space' was thought provoking. This is the voice of majority of the islanders.

Whenever organisations and individuals object to issuing of bar licences, the oft-repeated reply of the Registering authority is that Administration has set certain guidelines for issuing the bar licences and if anyone fulfills those guidelines, they cannot be denied the right to run a bar. The administration which is totally out of sync with the aspirations of the people have created norms which will flourish this trade, fill the pockets of few and ruin the lives of many.  While framing policies, the people at the helm of affairs turn a blind eye to the Article 47 of Directive principles to States, enshrined in the constitution.  The article states that the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purpose of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.

Also, the Registering authority has some advice for those objecting against the bars. Instead of objecting, he insists to create awareness among the masses about the bad effects of liquor consumption. On the one hand, we are encouraging and facilitating liquor hubs and on the other hand, we spend our resources for counseling and rehabilitation of the habitual drunkards. Seminars and symposiums conducted on 'Anti-alcoholism' day has become a charade, an eye-wash.  Educating an alcoholic is appropriately summed up by Oscar Wilde 'When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up.....reading.'     The ill-informed and lop-sided policy of making easy accessibility of  liquor and then trying to provide medical assistance to those affected by it need to be re-looked.

The Corporation set up under the premise of integrated and all-round development of the islands has become synonymous with boozing. The company set up on 28th June 1988, aims to improve supply of important raw materials, essential commodities, consumables with view to stabilize the market and provide these goods to people at reasonable prices. The essential commodity which is most pro-actively supplied by ANIIDCO is well-known. Among the eleven units (Source: www.aniidco.nic.in) of ANIIDCO, the visible arm seems to be the IMFL unit. In an effort to make its presence felt throughout the archipelago, the company plans to open new IMFL retail  outlets at Bambooflat and Havelock.

Despite all this, there is hope. The people of Ferrar Gunj Tehsil has been fighting tooth and nail to resist renewal of existing bars and proposals of new ones. A mass movement in 2008, initiated by Mahila mondals, supported by local NGOs, PRIs and commoners successfully weeded out the illicit locally produced brew. A similar approach can only put brakes to the sinister designs of an alcoholic-friendly administrative set-up.

K P Mohd Younus

Wimberly Gunj

EDITORIAL: ANIIDCO's Miscalculated Step

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 15 | 7 OCT 2011

EDITORIAL:

ANIIDCO's Miscalculated Step

The ANI Admn is referred to as an alcoholic-friendly administration. With bars at every nook and corner, the rising crimes pertaining to alcoholism does not trouble the administrator or the administration. Why the authorities turn a blind eye towards the root cause is a major concern.

ANI registers perhaps the highest per capita consumption of liquor. ANIIDCO sells liquor worth Rs 80 crores. Out of the defence quota, more than a lakh litre slips into the market. The consumption is on a steep rise. The effects are nakedly visible. The scourge of addiction is eating into the vitals of the entire Island society right from Campbell Bay to Aerial Bay.

At this juncture, it's shocking to learn that there is a proposal to open a wine shop in Bambooflat by ANIIDCO. When the general public is crushed under the weight of price rise, ignoring its own principle of stabilizing the market and providing essential commodities to people at reasonable prices, the board of ANIIDCO thought otherwise and closed its chain of green shops, which were supplying vegetables. And now, how the wine shop is going to help the rural populace is anybody's guess. ANIIDCO has already lost its human face by closing the green shops and opening up new wine shops.

The role of the elected PRI members of Bambooflat Panchayat, who wrote to the administration demanding a wine shop in their locality, is condemnable. The PRIs who have a pro-active role in the growth and development of the villages need to reset their priorities.

However, the logic that there is a demand for a wine shop from the PRIs is highly outrageous as on the other hand the Vice President of BJP has openly demanded the Administration to reopen the green shops. Why the demand is not met? Why the haste in opening wine shop? What happened to corporate social responsibility of the "only" commercial arm of the Administration?

There is open resentment among the general public residing in the surrounding villages against the move of the administration. It's a misconstrued step that ANIIDCO has taken. The decision needs to be revised or there will be serious backlash on the ground.

AE's Quarter Renovation: Whither Regulations?

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 15 | 7 OCT 2011

AE's Quarter Renovation:

Whither Regulations?

To provide appropriate services of technical manpower to PRIs, the Directorate of Panchayat took the wise and bold decision to free the technical wing from the clutches of Zilla Parishad, and the whole setup was rearranged to avoid inordinate delays in execution of developmental works. But, with it cropped its share of problems too. The technical wing was shifted to Directorate building. However, the AE, who had already seen the sheen and grandeur of the earlier head of the technical wing, could not lag behind and shifted to one of the Councillor's quarter (General Pool).

As usual, it required to be renovated and refurbished. But, who will foot the bill? The onus fell on four or five panchayats of Ferrar Gunj Tehsil. Flouting all regulations, which is imposed on the PRIs every now and then, an order was issued by the Executive Engineer to the Asst Engineer to approve technical clearance and a few panchayats in Ferrar Gunj Tehsil were asked to prepare work orders and fund  diverted to renovate the quarter, which however belong to the general pool and is located in Junglighat, far away from their jurisdiction.

Most of the Panchayats sensing foul-play did not heed to the order. It is learnt that an amount of Rs 8.2 lakhs were diverted from a couple of Panchayats.

When asked about the issue, A Neduncheziyan, Director, Rural Development said he is not aware of the incident and assured that he will look into the matter. However, Guruswamy, AE, Dir of Panchayat said that as per CPWD manual, there is provision upto 5% for contingency expenditure, which he said includes office stationery, vehicles and for watch and ward. Its astonishing to find that how can a residential quarter be charged under work.

As per the Panchayat Rules and Regulations, work orders from Panchayat can only be executed in their jurisdiction after due concurrence of Gram Sabha. The Pradhans, who won't mind bending the rules a bit to appease their bosses never thought that this act, which goes against the regulation might boomerang, if someone seeks information through RTI and files a complaint.

The Directorate officials however tried to convince saying that they were suddenly caught in a  precarious situation soon after the formation of a separate technical wing, they had to find residential quarter for the AE and it was an internal adjustment.

Neduncheziyan said that to run the department with additional staff also requires infrastructure as well as expenses to be covered. "We cannot keep going to the 69 Panchayats and ask for contingency fund to meet our stationery requirement, vehicles and other expenses. We have now approached the administration and the Lieutenant Governor has approved the provision of its own fund," he added.

Nonetheless, it does not exonerate the renovation of the Assistant Engineer's quarter located in Junglighat from funds diverted as work orders issued by Panchayats from Guptapara to Shoal Bay.

Interview: A Neduncheziyan, Director, Panchayats - Stemming the Rot

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 15 | 7 OCT 2011

Interview: A Neduncheziyan, Director, Panchayats

Stemming the Rot

Nedunchezhiyan, Director, RD, PRIs and ULB is on a cleaning spree. Loads of changes are on the anvil to check the cancerous malaise called corruption involving Panchayati Raj Institutions. Making clear his stand, he said that he is not here to make the Panchayats work, but whatever they do, they need to do it diligently with utmost accountability. In a freewheeling interview, he spoke to The Light of Andamans on various issues related to the major changes he has initiated to bring accountability to the Panchayati Raj Institution.

By Zubair Ahmed

To begin with, sanitation and disposal of solid waste in villages is a major issue today. Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner, South Andaman had stated that the Gram Panchayat will make arrangements to collect garbage, Panchayat Samiti will shift the garbage to the dumping grounds managed by Zilla Parishad. The arrangement failed. There is confusion on the ground.

The Panchayat Regulation clearly says that sanitation and garbage disposal is the subject of Gram Panchayat. I am aware about the minutes of the meeting held by the Deputy Commissioner. But, Gram Panchayat has to keep their area clean. They have been provided fund for that. They should identify sites to dump the waste and make arrangements for transportation too. If the fund is insufficient they can come to us. Besides, we have approached Government of India to implement Total Sanitation Campaign. We have requested for Rs 35 crores to create dumping grounds and solid waste management system. This is apart from the regular fund. There should not be any issue on this subject. It's very clearly mentioned in the regulation.

Why does the Directorate or the authorities wait for someone to make a complaint to take action against corrupt PRI members? If no one files a complaint, the elected member goes scot-free after his term. Is this justified? Why can't you have a monthly or quarterly monitoring system like MGNREGA to keep a tab on utilization of fund?

The Panchayati Raj Institutions with the three-tier system should function independently without any interference. Gram Sabha should conduct social audit to check any kind of deviation from the set rules and regulations. But, the mechanism in most cases has proved ineffective. Hence, we have suggested many changes in the rules. We have incorporated many preventive measures and stringent rules to check corruption. Regular monitoring and audits will be carried out and it's going to be a regular feature now onwards. Once elected as member, they cannot go scot-free even after five years. The issue is that self-autonomy is not compromised. Their power has been enhanced and they will be given a free-hand to rule. But, the vigilance monitoring aspect will be strengthened. There will be regular monitoring of their expenditure.

There is a wide complaint that you issue orders verbally and never give instructions in writing?

It's a misleading statement. If what I speak is there in regulation, why should I give it in writing? In case of emergency, if I give verbal instruction, they can send back the file with my instruction for my approval. Those who complain want to save their skin.

The rearrangement of Technical Wing was a major step taken after you took charge of the Directorate. Was that an easy decision?

Not an easy decision. I had to put a lot of effort to clean the stable. We were not even given proper space for office. The present Directorate building was under Zilla Parishad. We had to fight to get the space back.

You talk of devolution of power, whereas, still, the executive staff or those on diverted capacity from various line departments do not report to the elected Pradhan. They report to the Panchayat Secretary or the Executive Officer?

There are two aspects. The Pramukh of Panchayat Samiti is the Head of the Institution and the Executive Officer is the Head of the Office. Even if the Junior Engineer reports to the Panchayat Secretary, JE is responsible to the Gram Panchayat through him. The Assistant Engineer although reports to the Executive Officer, he is ultimately responsible to the Panchayat Samiti. This is done for smooth functioning of the office.

It is learnt that you have proposed changes in the Rules? What are the salient changes proposed?

Yes, we have incorporated many changes in the Rules. It is yet to be endorsed by the Admn and we hope that within two years, there will be drastic changes in the functioning of PRI. Our major focus was on accountability of the PRI members as the money given to them is meant for development. It should not be diverted to be siphoned off. Monitoring and preventive mechanism has been strengthened with regular watch on their activities and the penal action against violators is also suggested. We have also proposed that the beneficiary of developmental work should not be a single household or family. In many cases, the relatives of the PRI members become beneficiaries of many projects, which need to be checked.

If there is a dire need where the beneficiary is a single family and the Gram Sabha passes the work.

It depends upon Gram Sabha, if they have no problem, and in such cases they can carry out the work. The Rule is incorporated to prevent misuse and violations.

It has also come to light that you have proposed a cap of 30% for purchase including energy bills from GIA -General Fund. Do you think the amount is sufficient?

Before taking a decision on this aspect, we had carried out a wide study of all panchayats and fixed the cap on purchase. However, it's not yet final. But, we believe that the amount of 30% is sufficient and the energy bills are not more than Rs 4 Lakhs annually.

You have put a limit on usage of vehicles by the PRI heads, whereas, AEs and EEs can use the vehicles unlimited. Is it justified?

Yes, I don't think there should be a limit for the usage of vehicle for the technical staff as they have to make frequent visits to the work sites as well as panchayats from Diglipur to Beodnabad in South Andaman.

The quarter of AE located in Junglighat was renovated using funds diverted from Panchayats in Ferrar Gunj Tehsil. Is it not violation of Regulations?

I am not aware of this issue. I will look into it. However, the establishment needs fund for functioning. It can be met from the 5% contingency of Panchayats. But, I will look into the matter and see if there is any violation.

Panchayat Secretaries complain that they are overburdened with responsibilities of two panchayats? There is staff shortage at all levels. Why are you not filling posts?

The complaint is from regular Panchayat Secretaries. Those who have joined on deputation have no complaints and are coping up with their responsibilities. I don't think they are overburdened. Moreover, the Village Level Workers feels it inferior to work under Gram Panchayats as VLWs, but they are willing to work as Panchayat Secretaries. I have proposed that we should have one VLW attached with each panchayat.  Once we appoint regular Panchayat Secretaries, the shortage will reduce. I also understand that the Panchayat Secretaries does not have any promotion channel, which needs to be created. I am working on it too.

And, what about Group C staff for Panchayats?

Yes, it's long pending decision. The posts were created 15 years back. I don't know why it was not filled. The matter is also under my consideration. There is staff shortage in Panchayat. We need to fill the post of Group C staff to overcome it.

Do you think, the PRIs need to be sensitized about the Rules and Regulations as well as their role and functions?

Yes, we have initiated awareness and training programme on a massive scale. We are touching every nook and corner. From February onwards, programmes on various aspects of PRIs are also conducted.

After 15 years of PRI system, how do you rate them in the Islands?

Although, the Islands have its own drawbacks, we are not lagging behind in any aspect from other states. We have made Article 243 (G) mandatory whereas many states are yet to do it. Our focus should be on strengthening of infrastructure and systematic functioning methodology.

COVER STORY PRIs or Pariahs

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 15 | 7 OCT 2011

COVER STORY

PRIs or Pariahs

You cannot do away with them as they are an integral part of our democratic setup. Everyone seeks to empower them, as they are the only face of political autonomy in our Islands. But, even after 15 years of 73rd Constitutional Amendment, late Rajiv Gandhi's vision of empowering the villagers of rural India remains a distant dream.

By Zubair Ahmed

You cannot do away with them. They are an integral part of our democracy. Everyone seeks to empower them, as they are the face of political autonomy in our Islands. Even after 15 years of 73rd Constitutional Amendment, late Rajiv Gandhi's dream of empowering the villagers of rural India remains a vain hope. First 10 years, it was purely experimental, where both the administration and the PRIs messed up, at many occasions. When Administration tried to rein them, they were powerful enough to fly two cabinet ministers from Delhi and get their way out from the trap.

The relationship between PRIs and the Administration was not always a courteous one. Two reports on the functioning of the PRIs in the Union Territory - one by Third Finance Commission and the second by NABCONs sponsored by NABARD brings forth two different versions of the last fifteen years of PRI system.

The Administration has woken up from a deep slumber after a long 15-year leash given to the PRIs to function according to their whims and fancies. It realized that all is not well in the system and it requires immediate plugging of the existing loopholes. The Grant-in-Aid Rules are being amended. Many strict and stern actions are recommended as preventive measures to check embezzlement of funds. Regulations too are amended to check favoritism. A cap of 30% for purchases out of GIA -General Fund is also recommended by the Directorate to control unrestrained purchases.

The attitude of the PRIs towards the proposed changes is very cautious one. They are a frightened lot now. Nobody dares to raise their voice for just or unjust causes. They are intimidated by everyone, technically and bureaucratically. The reason is obvious- they have put themselves in such a quandary by their own irresponsible actions. Within a year of assuming charge, a good number out of them have embezzled funds as much as possible. Purchases of streetlights, dustbins and stationery worth lakhs show their insatiable greed. The whole PRI system works in a coterie. From top to bottom, the link is visible with set percentages and cuts nicely engraved in each work order and purchase order.

It's a fact that they have been elected for a term of 5 years by the electorate. And they should be given the freedom to rule the complete term. Proper check and balance mechanism should be at place to keep them under the ambit of rules and regulations. Everyone knows that Gram Sabhas have utterly failed to control corruption. When the GPs submit monthly expenditure report, why can't they be held accountable if excess purchases reflect in the report? A query is sufficient to put a stop to the unbridled greed.

It is a proven fact that the PRIs can be easily tamed. "We are like donkeys. He, who twists our ear, leads us" said a very senior Panchayat Member about the working of the Gram Panchayat; and that about sums up the way the village Panchayats generally work; with slight variations here and there. The level of ignorance, indifference and general apathy among the villagers, the ward members and even some Pradhans of the Panchayats was appalling, to say the least.

The advent of RTI and the large quantity of ammunition from the last fifteen years have empowered them enough to go for Hara-kiri against each other. The court cases, disqualifications and arrests of PRIs including the technical and administrative staff are not because someone wants the system to be clean. It's the by-product of their hara-kiri. If the intentions were right, one would have seen the same persons who filed the RTI application and filed cases against the corrupt PRIs performing honestly. But, the case is different.

Gram Sabhas have also failed to address the problem of corruption in the right sense. The NABARD report suggests that Social Audits of PRIs are mandatory as per the 73rd constitutional Amendment 1993, through which the village communities are empowered to conduct - social audit of all development works in their respective villages and the concerned authorities are duty bound to facilitate them. The social audits are expected to contribute to the process of empowerment of beneficiaries and generate demand for the effective delivery of programmes. The instruction requires that special Gram Sabhas be arranged to conduct social audit in every ward and that Social Audits of all ongoing development works be included as an item of discussion in every Gram Sabha meeting.

Moreover, the PRIs are a confused lot, with many fathers. Sometimes the Deputy Commissioner summons them and hands over a list of things to be done, not even bothered what the Rules and Regulations say. The issue of sanitation, which is never attended by the Gram Panchayat is such a case. The DC, SA told them that Panchayat will collect and segregate the garbage; Samiti will shift it to the dumping ground prepared by the Zilla Parishad. The whole setup failed as there was no coordination between the three tiers. How did DC issue such an order when the Regulation says something else? The Chief Secretary in a meeting said that sanitation is a subject of Gram Panchayat, and most of the GPs are still waiting for an order clarifying it.

PRIs complain that there is acute shortage of staff in each tier. The Third Finance Commission had recommended that Admn to immediately transfer all implementation, regulatory, advisory and other functions to the local bodies as envisaged in the Constitutional provisions for the functions to be devolved to the local bodies. The Admn should also ensure availability of minimum staff strength for which they will either bear the expenditure or transfer adequate funds. Control of staff should have been vested in local bodies. However, it still remains a pipedream.

It can be seen that only some headway has been made in devolution of funds, functions and functionaries to the institutions. The progress is rather slow and often tardy. This process on paper gathered momentum in 2006 when administrative orders were issued to transfer constitutionally mandated twenty nine functions to these institutions. However, even today this administrative fiat has not been translated into action at the ground level in letter and spirit. In many cases the devolved functions are still being done by the administrative departments. The funds for all these functions have not been fully devolved. All officials have also not been sent to the local bodies and those that are transferred, in most cases are controlled by their respective administrative departments.

A case in point is the agriculture department, which has taken a positive step and transferred its functionaries to the PRIs. However, its not clear why the purchase of fertilizer still vests with the department, when the depots come under Gram Panchayat? An official said that fertilizer is a "dirty business" which nobody is interested in. But, a PRI representative told LOA that its one of the lucrative trade and they don't want to lose it.

Another issue is related with  Electricity department, which recently issued notices to around 15 Panchayats for settlement of outstanding dues of power bill for streetlights. Ferrargunj Panchayat had accumulated dues of Rs 42 lakhs. These are issues which are always pushed under carpet when PRIs raise it in meetings.

There is widespread complaint about the release of grant-in-aid. The cost index is outdated and it needs to be updated, said a PRI member. The NABARD report too observed that the grant-in-aid released to the three-tier system was arbitrary without any basis. The report says, "A cursory view of the statements showing total grants released to different Gram Panchayats since the year 2002-03 reveal that the distribution of funds amongst the different Gram Panchayats and Panchayat Samities have never been arrived at on the basis of any of the objective criteria set in the Panchayat Regulations as laid down. It was found that instead the allocations for the general grants-in-aid, roads and water schemes have more or less been equally divided amongst the 67 Gram Panchayats irrespective of the size, population, remoteness etc of the respective Gram Panchayats."

A Neduncheziyan, after taking charge of the department has taken drastic steps to reform the whole system. With the rearrangement of technical staff and freeing the engineering wing from the clutches of Zilla Parishad has to an extent solved the issue of under utilization of funds which were earlier ascribed to the delays in according technical sanction to the individual schemes by the Engineering Staff which were placed at the command of the Zilla Parishad.

However, the technical wing still enjoys same kind of patronage, which the earlier Engineering Wing of Zilla Parishad enjoyed in connivance with the concerned officials. Usage of vehicles by the technical wing has been given a free hand, where the bills are footed from the contingency fund of panchayats and samitis. The renovation of a quarter with funds diverted from Panchayats also happened under the nose of the Directorate.

A Neduncheziyan was optimistic when he told LOA that they are on the right track and the drastic changes will be visible in a couple of years. Someone is in charge now and let's hope that PRIs does not become Pariahs in literal sense and they too take in control the system for the welfare of rural areas.

Jarawa Policy 2004 Well Conceived: SA Awaradi

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | ISSUE 14 | 30 SEPTEMBER 2011

Jarawa Policy 2004 Well Conceived: SA Awaradi

By Staff Reporter

The members of the expert committee on Jarawas have recorded their observation that the Jarawa Policy of 2004 is well conceived. However, it feels that regular periodic monitoring of its implementation by an independent body consisting of experts and administration is required to be put in place.

Dr Awaradi in a report submitted has also suggested reduction of convoys on Andaman Trunk Road. He has observed that the traffic on ATR is a major location of interaction and source for the items including eatables, rice etc for the Jarawas. He has suggested that the traffic on the ATR in the South Andaman Island needs to be regulated. The report mentions that the convoys move during the major part of the day from early morning to late afternoon. The regulation could be so designed to ensure that the entire traffic in that sector closes by noon, by 11.30 am to 12 noon. It had also suggested that the first convoy could start as early as 5 am and the last one from Jirkatang could be 9.00 am and that from Middle Strait could be at 10.00 am. The gap between the convoys could be reduced to increase the number of convoys within the given time in the forenoon. The committee has asked to scrupulously follow the convoy system to eliminate contact with the Jarawas on the road.

He felt that the absence of traffic in afternoon would facilitate the safe movement of the Jarawas on the road i.e. by avoiding road accidents and could also end the disturbance in the hunting activities.

The report also recorded its observation that rice has found its way into the lives of Jarawas through clandestine barter between Jarawas and non-Jarawas. It says that Jarawas has learnt to trap deer, catch crabs with active behind the scene support in the form of supply of rope traps and other articles. The hunts are exchanged with the non-tribals and the Jarawas take rice, spices, cooking oil etc in return. The Jarawas have learnt to respond intelligently with authorities if encountered.

The report says that rice has become a valued article of food among the Jarawas. If rice becomes a preferred and sought after item by overtaking their traditional indigenous food items, the Jarawas would become not only dependent on others for their food but become victims of exploitations by unscrupulous non-Jarawas. The committee fears that following the inroad of rice, the rice-bear would also appear on the scene and thereby worsening the situation. There are living examples in the ANI wherein the aborigines have adopted rice as food item due to the contacts with the traders and have become dependent on the others. The report says that there is an urgent need to control the inflow of the rice among the Jarawas.

On the hospitalization of Jarawas, the report says that the hospitalized Jarawas are perforce eating the rice because they are away from their natural habitat. Thus, shifting of Jarawas even for minor treatment to the hospitals located away from their inhabited areas leads to consumption of rice. As such, the location of medical sub-centres could be as close to Jarawa areas as possible so that the Jarawa attendants and patients can continue to have access to their normal food under the advice of medical personnel.

Dr Awaradi has suggested that a mechanism has to be established for continuous long term observation and study of the Jarawas so that input is available to enable the government to review the policy measures and activities if required.

ANI Admn had formed an expert committe to assess the actual perceptions, needs and expectations of the Jarawa tribe, covering various groups inhabiting South and Middle Andaman. The 2004 policy on Jarawa tribes is being reviewed looking at the changed scenario, wherein some members of the tribe are coming out of their area and having more contact with the outside world.