Trinath
Port Blair, Jan 22: Absence of representatives from vital government departments in Gram Sabha meetings is taking a serious toll on the Panchayati Raj system in the North and Middle Andaman region. According to reports, officials of several government departments in the district skip Gram Sabha meetings of various Panchayat causing a stalemate in execution of important rural works.
In a recent case, the first Gram Sabha meeting of Harinagar Panchayat in Middle Andaman (after the last elections) was postponed to Jan 13, 2016 due to absence of representatives from government agencies.
The reconvened special Gram Sabha on Jan 13 also witnessed chaos as government officials of various departments again resorted to absenteeism on the trot. Upset over the absence of government officials, the village Pradhan reportedly shot letters to the top officials of the North and Middle Andaman District Administration demanding disciplinary action against officials for bunking Gram Sabha meetings which take up issues of public importance.
“Gram Sabha meetings of Village Panchayats assume importance as various issues and concerns are placed for appropriate redressal. Villagers also highlight various concerns during the meeting which was addressed by the government officials of the concerned department. But absence of government representatives in Gram Sabha meetings in this region particularly the Middle Andaman region has made the entire system a futile exercise. The first meeting of Harinagar Panchayat was called off due to the absence of government officials of various departments. It was again called on Jan 13, 2016 and Heads of different Departments were requested to depute their representatives for the meeting. But again, the government officials skipped the Gram Sabha meeting,” said a villager of Billyground.
A sizeable gathering of villagers, who assembled in the Panchayat Hall were vociferous raising various issues. But the absence of government officials left them dejected as their concerns could not be addressed.
The Administration should issue a circular to Heads of various Government Departments to invariably depute officials for Gram Sabha meetings. Strict disciplinary action should be taken against officials, who are found to be routinely resorting to absence from Gram Sabha meetings, PRI members of the area demanded.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, January 22: A crew member of MV Swaraj Dweep namely Mr Lokanadham who was finding it very difficult to come to Andaman from Oman to perform the last rites of his mother Mrs Tulsiamma, has finally got VISA and other necessary documents after two long days of uncertainty, which means that he would be able to return India without any problem.
The mother of Mr. Lokanadham expired at Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital on 20th January 2016 and her last wish was to see her elder son Lokanadham. She had reportedly also expressed wish that her last rites will be performed by her elder son.
It is now learnt that Mr. Lokanadham will be reaching Port Blair by tomorrow afternoon.
Earlier the family members of Mr. Lokanadham had alleged that due to poor paper works VISA was not issued to the crew members of MV Swaraj Dweep (Which is at Oman now) and that is the reason why he was unable to return to India from Oman.
Andaman Sheekha had highlighted this issue on Friday edition. It is learnt that the Administration also did its best to make sure that Mr. Lokanadham reaches home as early as possible.

Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, Jan 22: A case of Molestation was recently registered against a Jarawa Youth by a lady of Collinpur Village. According to the lady a Jarawa youth on 6th January had entered inside her house and tried to molest her. A FIR in this case was however lodged only two days back but confusion in this case persists.
It has been learnt that there are people in the village, who believe that the it was not a case of molestation as the Jarawa Youth was trying to pull the red saari of the lady, getting attracted by Red Colour and other than that the Jarawa youth didn’t showed any intension to outrage modesty of the lady.
Police Department is not trying to investigate deeper in this case and also trying to find out whether the complaint was lodged with some hidden agenda.

Ganesh
Baratang, Jan 20: A permanent Labourer of Forest Department today suffered serious head injuries while loading massive logs in Forest Trucks.
According to details available here Mr. Febiyanus Toppno, the labourer was hit by a massive log, when the iron chain of the Forest Truck snapped and the log slipped from the truck at South Creek area of Baratang.
The injured Forest Department staff was immediately rushed to PHC Baratang from where he has been referred to G B Pant Hospital.

Senthil Kumar
Port Blair, Jan 19: A mentally challenged lady, who used live on the footpaths of Rangat, died last night.
According to villagers of Rangat the lady was disowned by her family members for unknown reasons and since then she used to roam in Rangat Bazaar and sleep on the footpath, opposite to AC office of Rangat.
In many occasions in past Andaman Sheekha had highlighted the issue and demanded some kind of medical help for the lady but nothing was done for her.
Just because no one cared about the lady, Ms. Ranjitham, led a very lonely life and died silently on the road.
Some residents of Rangat including a few local youths, used to serve her food, whenever possible but all she required is a shelter and proper medical care.
Sadden by this demise, a group of nearly 60 to 70 youths of Rangat today performed the last rites of the lady and buried her body in Rangat’s TV Centre (Hindu) Graveyard.
There are dozens of such mentally challenged people roaming in these Islands, who have been, disowned by the family members.
The Administration must arrange some kind of accommodation for these few people, so that they can lead their lives respectfully.
Ms. Ranjitham left this world silently but she left behind a strong message for the administration. We celebrate the Mental Health Day with great enthusiasm but sadly we can’t take care of only a few dozen people who are mentally ill and need medical care.

Sarthak Kanjilal

Port Blair, Jan 19: Mr. Deepak Kumar Jha, the General Secretary of A & N State BJP unit has been granted bail by Session Court of A & N Islands today, just one day after he was sent to Judicial Custody by  the Chief Judiciary Magistrate court at Port Blair.

Mr. Jha was arrested on Thursday last by Andaman’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for allegedly taking an amount of Rs. 7.5 lakh from a family to arrange admission to a child of the family in a mainland based Medical College.

According to details available here on Friday last Mr. Jha was produced to court by CID unit and from court the CID unit had taken Mr. Jha in police remand for three days.

After completion of police remand, Jha was produced to CJM court yesterday and from court he was sent to 14 days Judicial remand. Soon after yesterday’s court judgment, bail applications for Mr. Jha were submitted in Session Court, which granted bail to Mr. Jha this morning.

Ganesh Sarkar
Port Blair, Jan 18: The existence of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Hut Bay, South Andaman is being questioned due to unprecedented fund crunch and sharp drop of employment. The rural employment generation scheme, which till recent time was one major source of employment for the rural residents of Hut Bay, is currently facing acute shortage of funds leading to a sharp fall in employment in the region.
According to reports, the MNREGA scheme implemented in the Hut Bay region was an easy job opportunity for the poor rural population as it secured 100 days of guaranteed employment in a year. But since the last one year, not a single job opportunity has been generated by the Hut Bay panchayat under the scheme.
“Growing unemployment has become a major concern for the residents of Hut Bay today. Under the MNREGA scheme, several villagers from different parts of the region were employed by the Hut Bay Panchayat for various rural projects. The guaranteed 100 day employment in a year under the scheme was a boon for villagers and was instrumental in addressing the unemployment issue in the region to a great extent. But complete stop of employment opportunity under the scheme has created huge resentment among the people here,” lamented several villagers of Hut Bay.
Speaking to Andaman Sheekha, the Pradhan, Hut Bay, Smt Geeta Rao clarified that shortage of funds with the Andaman and Nicobar Administration is the only reason for the MNREGA stalemate in Hut Bay. “People think that Hut Bay Panchayat is not doing its job but fact is that we don’t have fund under MNREGA. The issue was raised with the Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman as also with the Tehsildar on several occasions. But till date Hut Bay Panchayat is awaiting release of funds to carry out rural works under the scheme here,” she added.