THELIGHTOFANDAMANS: COVER STORY: Tsunami Fund was Diverted

Sunday, April 22, 2012

COVER STORY: Tsunami Fund was Diverted

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | ISSUE 30 | 20 APRIL 2012

COVER STORY:

Tsunami Fund was Diverted

It is learnt from reliable sources that the Admn had projected and demanded an amount of about Rs 130 crores, which was insufficient for the purpose of relief or compensation. The amount reached the Islands and remained with the Admn for a long time. In the due course, when the realisation dawned that the funds are insufficient and "other important" reasons cropped up, the funds were diverted to fill the gap with due permission from the ministry.

Moreover, the Admn could have at least released first instalment of the compensation instead of diverting it and prolonging the process. Instead, the funds were used for works in different departments. When the Ministry declared Port Blair Port Trust and later stalled it, there was shortage of funds for administrative expenses too. It is learnt that funds were diverted to that account too. The blatant lie that funds were not diverted will not find many takers.

The Admn is now in a quandary as it did not expect the farmers to hit the road with the demand for immediate release of the amount. Home spun local wisdom says that the whole process of fresh allocation and release of fund from the ministry will take its own sweet time.

In fact the farmers have witnessed not merely collapse of justice, but its systematic planned subversion. They have realised that it's been a long and blind ride since 2004. The discontent and distrust among the Islanders have started to swell and spill over on to the streets.

Is it not odd that sometime back in 2011, the Administration set off on a weird mission giving the Islanders a choice - land or money? Whereas, the Admn had miserably failed to either identify alternative land or convince Central Empowered Committee (CEC), when it came to the Islands and met the farmers that deemed forest should be de-reserved and allotted to the farmers.

It was quite easy for the Admn to shoot a letter to Delhi saying that there is no sufficient land and monetary compensation should be paid to the affected, that too without doing proper homework.

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.