Inaugurates ‘Vikas Mela’ & RCC Bridge at Sitanagar, also laid foundation stone of Khudirampur Dam
Port Blair, Feb 2: The Lt Governor Lt Gen A K Singh (Retd), has said that hard work, commitment and persistence of the people of Diglipur since their settlement have made this place a heaven in the last 60 years. “For us, the people of N & M Andaman are equally important as other areas and will be given adequate attention and the Administration will ensure that people living in this part of the Islands get their due in a proper manner”, observed the Lt Governor. He was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Vikas Mela’ at Netaji ground, Diglipur on 1st Feb 2015.
Referring to ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ initiative of our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi which was launched in Haryana recently, the Lt Governor complimented the people of Diglipur for their significant achievement and an outstanding record as regard the gender ratio (1000M : 1041F) thus setting an example for the rest of the country to emulate. “People from the rest of the country should visit Diglipur to see how women are being encouraged, empowered and respected, he said. Stating that during the last 20 months, the focus of the Administration was to ensure that basic rights are provided to the people of the Islands, he said that under the able leadership of our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, development initiatives have taken a big leap forward and the Islands should join in taking forward the development initiatives, observed the Lt Governor. He further added that our efforts will be to ensure that our Islands get all benefits provided by the Central Govt.
Dwelling on various achievements and visible progress made by the Administration during the last 20 months, he said that by April 2015 the bandwidth connectivity will increase three fold from 345 mbps to 1 gbps, which will improve the internet, 2-G services and mobile connectivity. This will be completed in the next 3-4 months. As a long term measure, the Govt of India has approved the proposal for an undersea cable from Chennai to Port Blair. This will be completed within the next 2-3 years.
On the Health front, the Lt Governor informed that a medical college with 100 seats will start functioning this year, of which 70 island students would be offered admission. This will also improve the availability of specialists and super specialists in the Islands. He further informed the gathering about the launch of ‘Andaman and Nicobar Islands Scheme for Health Insurance’ which will provide cover for referral patients going to mainland for treatment and whose annual income is not more than three lakhs. The Lt Governor complimented the efforts of the Hon’ble MP, Shri B P Ray for vigorously pursuing this scheme.
Turning to Education, he said a new college has become functional with 360 students on its rolls. Besides posts of teachers which were lying vacant for the last several years were filled-up in which 90 percent of the candidates selected were locals, he said. “We have to provide our children the best quality education through modern means such as internet and through smart education”, he said.
As regard connectivity, he said our efforts will be to shift people from sea to air journey. In the future we want to move more and more people through air connectivity. For achieving this, various steps are being taken up by the Administration. A flight service was introduced between Port Blair and Car Nicobar. A chartered flight was introduced in January this year between Port Blair and Chennai, which facilitates with tickets at cheaper rates. There is a proposal to introduce chartered flights between Port Blair-Kolkata and Port Blair-Vizag as soon as aircrafts and pilots are available with Air India. The work on extension of the runway at Shibpur at Diglipur will be taken up soon. In the same manner, extension of the airstrip at Campbell Bay has started, he said.
Turning to Art & Culture, the Lt Governor said that the cultural programme presented by school children of Diglipur reflected that the children of Diglipur are immensely talented. He announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh each to the three schools of Diglipur which presented the cultural programme. The amount will be used by the schools for generating encouragement among the children in art & culture. He also informed that efforts will be made to open a branch of Kala Kendra at Diglipur.
The Lt Governor also informed that from March onwards, the Deputy Commissioners of the all the three Districts will be provided Rs 1 crore each for payment of immediate compensation to the victims of disaster. He directed the DC (N&M Andaman) to provide compensation to people who suffered loss in the recent heavy rain at Diglipur. The people should get the compensation within 15 days of disaster, he observed.
On Tourism, he called upon people and PRI representatives to submit concrete proposals for tourism projects for Diglipur. The Administration will encourage tourism projects in that area, he said and informed that an eco-friendly resort will be developed in Long island. In the same manner, a tourism circuit will be made up to N& M Andaman. On the demand of the people for increasing the frequency of cargo vessels to Diglipur, he directed the Shipping Department to work-out a plan in this regard. Directions were also given to the Shipping Department to work out a plan to have boat service once in a week between Port Blair-Havelock-Diglipur.
About the strategic importance of the Islands, the Lt. Governor said that all this while, these Islands have been treated as a strategic outpost. Time has come when we should take a leap out from a strategically important outpost to become a ‘spring board’ for the country’s ‘Look East-Act East’ policy. The Lt. Governor also spoke about the ‘Swachch Bharat Abhiyan’, an initiative of the Prime Minister and appealed to the people of Diglipur to join hands and make this programme a great success. The Lt Governor also touched on issues such as organic farming, enhancing milk production and preventing suicide cases.
Earlier, the Lt Governor laid the foundation stone of a dam at Khudirampur. The work for the construction of the dam will begin in March after getting all the clearances and will be completed in three years time. The Lt Governor also inaugurated a RCC bridge at Sitanagar, Diglipur. This bridge will ensure free movement of people and vehicular traffic and has been completed in 15 month’s time by the local PRIs.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the RCC bridge, the Lt Governor lauded the efforts of the PRI members for understanding the problems of the 150 families residing in the area. He said that construction of the bridge is a perfect example of involvement of PRIs in mitigating the problems and grievances of the people living in rural areas. The LG also asked the DC to provide a playground for children of ‘Model School’.
Speaking at the RCC bridge inauguration function, the Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Shri B. P. Ray thanked the contractors and engineers of APWD for the good work. He said a proposal for the Ranchi community has been sent to the Ministry for including them under ST category. He also informed about the rapid progress being made in the area of education. Days of school children writing with chalks and pencil is coming to an end, he said and underlined the need for imparting education to the students through smart classes. Under the new education setup, smart classes are conducted by way of animations, power point presentations etc. He informed that 42 schools of the islands are connected with VSAT facilities.
On 2nd February 2015, the Lt Governor visited Ross & Smith, a tourist spot. He directed the Forest Department to improve the boat services for the tourists.
The Chief Secretary, Shri Anand Prakesh, Adhyaksh, Zilla Parishand, N&M Andaman, Shri K Srinivasan, PRI members, officers of the Administration and people of the area were present.
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