Sri Vijaya Purm, July 19: Living on the Edge (LOTE), through its President Mr. Abhay Kumar, has submitted a representation to the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, urging the Administration to address the acute shortage of Government residential quarters for Government employees serving in the Nicobar Group of Islands.
In the representation, LOTE highlighted that the Nicobar Group of Islands, being one of the most remote, strategically significant and geographically challenging regions of the Union Territory, poses unique difficulties for Government employees. Despite serving under demanding geographical and climatic conditions and often remaining away from their families for extended periods, many employees continue to face severe hardships due to the lack of adequate residential accommodation.
The representation stated that private rental accommodation is virtually unavailable in several parts of the Nicobar Group of Islands, leaving newly posted Government employees with no option but to reside in temporary or unsuitable arrangements. This, it noted, adversely affects employee morale, efficiency and overall well-being.
It was further pointed out that a majority of the existing Government quarters were constructed several decades ago and are now in a highly dilapidated and unsafe condition. Continuous exposure to heavy rainfall, high humidity, saline coastal conditions and inadequate maintenance has led to extensive deterioration of these buildings, many of which require complete reconstruction or major structural renovation.
LOTE also observed that the shortage of habitable accommodation has become a serious concern across several Government departments, including Health, Education, Police, Forest, Revenue, Electricity, Public Works, Rural Development and other essential services. The organisation stated that the lack of proper housing discourages employees from accepting postings in these remote islands, thereby affecting the delivery of essential public services.
In its representation, LOTE urged the Administration to conduct a comprehensive survey of the availability and condition of Government quarters across the Nicobar Group of Islands, sanction and construct adequate modern residential quarters to meet current and future requirements, replace or reconstruct old and unsafe buildings, allocate sufficient funds under an appropriate infrastructure development programme for phased construction of staff housing, accord priority to essential service departments while allotting newly constructed quarters, and formulate a long-term housing plan to ensure safe, hygienic and dignified accommodation for every Government employee posted in the Nicobar Group of Islands.
Emphasizing the importance of the issue, LOTE stated that providing decent residential accommodation is not merely a welfare measure but an essential requirement for ensuring efficient governance, uninterrupted public service delivery and improved employee morale in these strategically important islands.
Expressing confidence in the leadership of the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Abhay Kumar hoped that the genuine concerns of hundreds of Government employees serving in the Nicobar Group of Islands would receive sympathetic consideration and that necessary action would be initiated at the earliest.
