Mr. Tarun Vijay, the Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from Uttarakhand today demanded better rail, road, internet and other modes of connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar saying it was of strategic importance for India.
Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, he said that the islands were 520 nautical miles from India and were closer to nations like Thailand, he said it comprised 500 islands of which only 37 were inhabitated which were not linked.
Vijay said the 3.5 lakh population of Andaman & Nicobar including 65,000 government employees, were facing serious difficulties due to lack of transportation means.
While the Britishers had declared it “Kalapani” for freedom fighter, the government has declared it “Kalapani” for the inhabitants and employees as even in case of medical urgency they have to spend huge amounts on airfares to bring the patients to the mainland as ship services were inadequate.
He demanded subsidy to inhabitants besides better banking and other facilities besides creating a memorial for Sher Ali who killed the then Viceroy and due respect to freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar.
