TTHHEE LLIIGGHHTT OOFFAndamansVOL: 36 nn ISSUE: 03 nn THURSDAY nn 01 NOVEMBER 2012 nn PORT BLAIR nn Rs. 5.00

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T H E F O R T N I G H T L Y V I E W S M A G A Z I N E

MF SAMSONA DISASTER

THE LONELYSCHOOL

SAVINGCAPT SESHASAI?

CREW RATION:RS 58 LAKH SWINDLED

INTERVIEW: JALAJ SRIVASTAVAPRINCIPAL SECRETARY, SHIPPING, PLANNING AND REVENUE

MAGICISLANDS

BOOK REVIEW

THE ALL-PARTY

FIASCO

IDA STANDING COMMITTEE

INDECISIVEINCONCLUSIVE

2 |news | PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BYSTAFFREPORTER

The Standing Committee ofIsland DevelopmentAuthority, which met on 17

Oct 2012 at Planning Commissionwere less agenda and more point-scoring on tribal issues and visiondocument for the Islands. The IDAmeetings has been a fiasco as noissues are discussed in detail andtaken to a logical conclusion.

With very short time at dispos-al, it is learnt that most of the timewas once again consumed by theMember of Parliament, whoraised the issue of Viper Islandand brain-mapping. The samething had happened in last IDAmeeting in which Bishnu PadaRay had incensed PranabMukherjee, then Finance Ministerand P Chidambaram, HomeMinister.

Commenting on the StandingCommittee meeting of IDA, JalajSrivastav, Principal Secretary,Planning said that there has to becertain structure to this meeting.Many issues related with educa-tion, health and social welfarecould not be discussed in themeeting due to paucity of time. Healso said that it was decided thatAction Taken Note (ATN) will not

be discussed in the StandingCommittee Meeting. It will be dis-posed off in the quarterly meet-ings at the level of Secretary,Planning Commission. At theStanding Committee level, therewill be maximum ten issues. Andthe IDA meeting at Prime MinisterLevel there should not be morethan four issues.

The Admn has placed ademand for 193 posts in educa-tion department and has soughtto increase the quota of seats forMBBS and BDS for A & N Island'sstudents. It has mentioned thatmore seats are required till thenew Medical College is estab-lished in A & N Islands. It has alsoplaced on agenda the demand forposting of specialists from CHSnon-teaching specialists' cadre toA&N Islands on regular basis andreservation of PG seats in MedicalColleges.

Another agenda is the demandfor transfer of committed liabili-ties from Plan to Non-Plan. As perstandard practice, salary andallowances to the posts createdand maintenance expenditure ofassets created in a Plan periodought to be transferred to Non-Plan. Committed liabilities of 7thplan were transferred to Non-plan

budget in 1990-91 with somereductions. Since then, such liabil-ities were not transferred.

A request was also made forextension of validity period oferstwhile Coastal ZoneManagement Plan, 1991 for nexttwo years or till new plans (IIMP &CZMP as per CRZ, 2011) arefinalised.

For very small projects such astoilets, changing rooms etc. onbeach side, way-side, the Admnhas place the demand to waive offRapid EIA norms. It has alsorequested to give powers to a localcommittee under the ChiefSecretary (with experts fromdomain area) to conduct REIA forthe projects allowed at the level ofANCZMA for projects under Rs.5Crore.

Admn has also demandeddelisting of Trochus Niloticus (Seashell) which is used by the localhandicraft artisans. ZoologicalSurvey of India conducted a sur-vey and recommended lifting ofthe ban initially for three years. A& N Admn submitted a proposalto MoEF for delisting of species fora period of three years.

It also demanded inclusion ofLong Island and Neil Island inICRZ category. Initially four

Islands, North Andaman, MiddleAndaman, South Andaman andGreat Nicobar were in ICRZ cate-gory. Subsequently NCZMA in its25th meeting recommendedinclusion of four more Islands -Baratang, Havelock, LittleAndaman & Car Nicobar.

Sand mining in the Islands wasreduced, as per Supreme Court'sdecision dated 07 May 2002. TheAmdn informed the StandingCommittee that practically nosand mining was carried duringlast 3 years resulting in seriousproblems for the construction anddevelopment works. NCZMA inits 25th meeting recommendedamendment to IPZ notification2011 for permitting sand miningfrom identified non-eco-sensitiveareas. Due to delay in issue of noti-fication, it was requested that alocal committee under the ChiefSecretary may be allowed to goahead with sand allotment, asapproved by Minister of State (IC)MoEF.

The demand for upgradation ofPort Blair airport and startingInternational flights via Port Blairwas also raised in the StandingCommittee meeting. Port Blairwas declared as International air-port in 2007 and Ministry of Civil

BYSTAFF REPORTER

Why did the Tribal Policy appear in theIDA Standing Committee still remainsa puzzle. It seems the Admn got an

opportunity to convince the PlanningCommission what it has done on this front asit appears more like a report card on tribalissues. The way the issue of Buffer Zone waspresented does not elicit at any point that itwas a fiasco, where they actually deserve rep-rimand.

In the presentation, the Admn boasts of itsprotection regime and the mistakes commit-ted by the British. On Great Andamanese, ithas commented that the British Policy hasseverely impacted them and the Admn is pro-tecting them in Strait Island. On Onges too, itblames the intervention policy of the British.On Nicobarese, it mentions that they havebeen successfully mainstreamed and integrat-ed with non-tribal civilization and are noweducationally advanced. On Jarawas, thepresentation mentions that the hunter andgatherer tribe, initially hostile with outsidersare in friendly disposition now due to protec-tion and health care extended by theAdministration.

About Andaman Trunk Road, the presenta-tion says that the closure of the road is going

to cause tremendous hardship to settlers. Itsays that the road was constructed as a part ofthe approved Rehabilitation Scheme, 56 kmstretch passing through the Jarawa Reserveand is also the lifeline of 1.50 lakh populationin about 100 settlements. It further mentionsthat safeguards are in position on ATR whichpasses through Reserve area and the Jarawasare insulated from outside influence. It also

raises concerns about the settlers living in theBuffer Zone. The Admn claims that regulatedtraffic movement, reduced convoy frequencyand DIG-level police officer being designatedas Nodal Officer to monitor traffic movementare positive steps taken to protect the tribefrom outside influence.

To review the existing Jarawa Policy as sug-gested by the Expert Committee of Ministry ofTribal Affairs chaired by Union Secretary inFeb 2012, it says that empirical data is beingcollected engaging field functionaries ofAAJVS.

On alternate sea route, the presentationmentions that the route will be opened fortraffic by March 2015. Ministry of TribalAffairs had suggested avoiding tourist trafficon ATR by establishing new jetties, naviga-tional aids and dredging works. The Admninformed the Standing Committee that theworks related with the alternate route hasbeen incorporated in 12th Five Year Plan.Preliminary works for REIA study and hydro-graphic survey has been completed and otherpreliminary works like sub-soil investigation,preparation of navigational charts have com-menced.

On Buffer Zone, which was notified in 2007to protect Jarawas from harmful effects of out-side contacts, the Admn presented that the

IDA Standing Committee MeetingIndecisive and Inconclusive

Aviation was requested to intro-duce International Flights in May2012. The Admn informed thatwatch hours has been increasedup to sunset and further proposedto be increased to 24 hours byJune 2013. AAI had also dis-cussed the issues during the visitof Member, PlanningCommission on 24th July 2012and the layout plan of Airportupgradation and expansion wasfinalised. The Amdn has request-ed for expeditious action for earlyupgradation of the Airport, andInternational flights re-routing totouch Port Blair, in line with thevision of world- class tourism inthe Islands.

Reduction in air fare andincreased connectivity also wason the agenda of the Admn.Route Dispersal Guidelines(RDG) was brought into improveconnectivity in the remoteregions such as North-East, J&Kand Islands. At present 10%quota is earmarked under RDGfor these sectors. Most of the air-lines prefer to meet this criterionby touching Jammu and othershort duration destination andavoid Port Blair.. In June 2011,Ministry of Civil Aviation wasrequested to keep A&N Islands inan exclusive category underRoute Dispersal Guidelines.

Although, there was no dearthof agenda for the meeting, noth-ing seems to reach a logical con-clusion with the current format,where debates and discussionstakes more time than decisionmaking.

Report Card on Tribal Issues Zone covers an area of 842.58 SqKm in which 22000 people livesin 31 revenue villages. It alsoinformed that seven touristestablishments were closed out.

Going into the details theAdmn said that on theNotification being quashed byCalcutta High Court,Administration filed SLP in ApexCourt, and the Apex court direct-ed the Admn to implementBuffer Zone notification withoutany exception until notification isrescinded or amended.

The Administration informedthat it has constituted a commit-tee under the chairmanship ofChief Secretary and two fieldlevel committees to revisit BufferZone. It also informed the IDAStanding Committee that arevised notification is expectedby March, 2013.

The Admn also informed theStanding Committee that A&NIslands (PAT) AmendmentRegulation, 2012 was broughtinto force on 9 August 2012,which empowers Administratorto declare/modify Buffer Zone,and any area contiguous toreserve area & provides stringentpenal provisions against theoffenders.

Alternate Sea Route toBaratang by March 2015ALTERNATE SEA ROUTE TIMELINE

Sub Soil InvestigationNovember, 2012 Construction of Jetty at Baratang Completion of feasibility Nov 2012 Submission of Final Estimate to MoSDecember, 2012Environmental ClearanceMarch, 2013Tendering and Award of WorkJune 2013Completion of WorkMarch, 2015. Procurement of vessels by ANI Admn December, 2014.

3 |news|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BYZUBAIR AHMED

Is it a coincidence that Directorswho come on deputation fromNavy carry the virus of corrup-

tion or is it a systemic plague thatinflicts the department? Threedirectors in succession have facedcorruption charges and had to beabruptly repatriated.

In fact, experts in the field opinethat those on deputation fromNavy are neither acquainted withthe commercial aspects nor themandatory documentation part.Without merchant shipping back-ground, they are prone to falter atevery administrative decisionthey take.

Those on the helm of affairsneed to know the nitty-gritty ofrepair and maintenance of ves-sels, commercial aspects andmeeting the statutory require-ments regarding safety of life atsea. Those with Naval back-ground need not worry about anysurveys or MMD or DG Shippingrequirements.

Without professional experi-ence, they are prone to all kind ofmanipulations by those whoknow how the system can be bentfor their advantage and keep

themselves safe. This is what hashappened in the departmentsince long time. Although, CaptSeshasai has become an easywhipping boy, the whole blamecannot be offloaded on to him ascorruption is system driven withmore people involved.

The Deputy Director's role orthose in the planning remain hid-den in the whole episode, where-as they play a major role in alldecision making process.Nevertheless, their imprint willremain undetectable in the files.

On the one hand, DSS, the sec-ond largest fleet after ShippingCorporation of India does not pos-sess the Document of Complianceto operate vessels. Hence, theyrely on SCI or ABS by offloadingmanning and technical manage-ment.

"Since 1989, the Departmentdoes not have a Marine Engineerand the present crop of AMEs lackprofessional competency," said aretired master. Just wishing for aMarine Engineer is not going tosolve the issue, as concrete stepstowards making the wholeDirectorate compliant for runningits own vessels without offloadingneeds serious attention.

DSS: SYSTEM-DRIVENCORRUPTION

As mentioned, there are a fewfaces hidden from the publiceye, wielding supreme power

to maneuver and have the rudder intheir control. From Shakti Sinha,then Secretary Shipping, who havebeen keen protecting his Captainand flock from all harms had a prop-er hand in one of the cases - swin-dling of ration money of the crew oftwo ships. It's a clear case of fraudand DG Audit has also raised querieswhich still remains unanswered.

The Deputy Director of ShippingServices purposefully kept silentand played to the tunes of theDirector to achieve his goal of aclean ACR for UPSC for the post ofDeputy Director. The post wasintentionally kept vacant for num-bers of years and was filled by pro-moting the Manager (ISM), whomanaged to get back door entry tothe Directorate as Manager (ISM)on deputation and subsequently gotabsorbed in that post with the con-nivance of A&N Admn. He has nowbeen promoted on the basis of

amended RR for the post of DeputyDirector of Shipping Services whichproposes composite method forselection.

It is imperative to note that thepost of Assistant Labour WelfareOfficer in the Directorate ofShipping Services, over which suchhue and cry was made by theDirector to retain C J Antony, is notthe post of A&N Admn but a post ofCentral Labour Commissioner,Ministry of Labour, New Delhi creat-ed under the statutory provisions ofFactory Act.

The initial decision of the A&NAdmn to transfer Antony, AssistantLabour Commissioner as LabourWelfare Officer in the Directorate ofShipping Services vides OrderNo.3472 dated 06th October 2004against this ex-cadre (central min-istry) post was a total violation ofrecruitment procedure. Later, whenon the appeal of C J Antony, CentralAdministrative Tribunal in respectof O.A.No.475 of 1993 had passedorder to regularize the adhoc serv-

ice against the existing vacancy ofAssistant Labour Commissioner inthe Office of Labour Commissioner& DET, Port Blair, it was not properto retain him in the Directorate ofShipping Services. Instead the DSSshould have requested the CentralLabour Commissioner, New Delhi toexpeditiously fill the post ofAssistant Labour Welfare Officer.Why the Director was keen to havehim on the seat needs a properreply. However, after much hue andcry, he was shunted out. But heplayed a key role in the procure-ment process as ProcurementOfficer without any technical com-petence.

Six years in a seat should haveraised enough heat for the Planningguy, who has been stand-relievedlast week. The genius who lookedafter the whole DSS from planning,selection, inspection, operationsand even procurement was thekingpin of the complete operations.It has to be seen whether he evadesthe net.

THE INVISIBLE FACES

The Marine Dockyard has very good fitting, machine andmoulding shops, but remains under-utilized as majorityof the 320 and odd workforce doesn't possess the manda-

tory IRS certification in their trade. Nothing possible has beendone yet to make the staff go through the process and get thenecessary certification to be competent to repair the vessels.Why should the staff take the initiative? It will only burdenthem with more work. But if some incentives are providedand the pay weigh made skill-oriented, the dockyard can beput to optimal use.

The same dry dock is used by Coast Guard and they gettheir work done on time, while most of the vessels managedby DSS or ABS do not keep any time schedule, which hasaffected the service at all levels. The contractors who work forCoast Guard make the rental payment for the dry dock. Andif they overshoot the schedule, they have to bear the brunt.Moreover, Coast Guard always stocks critical spares.

Although there cannot be any comparison of DSS withCoast Guard, but they could have used the basic template fol-lowed by Coast Guard. Even private vessels have no suchdowntime as DSS owned vessels. There is no routine mainte-nance of the ships due to laid-back planning process.

MARINE DOCKYARD:A BIG YAWN!

TThhee DDiirreeccttoorraattee ooff SShhiippppiinngg SSeerrvviicceess iiss iinnnneewwss oonnccee aaggaaiinn ffoorr wwrroonngg rreeaassoonnss.. CCaappttSSeesshhaassaaii hhaass bbeeeenn rreeppaattrriiaatteedd ttoo hhiiss ppaarreenntt

oorrggaanniizzaattiioonn.. HHoowweevveerr,, iitt iiss lleeaarrnntt ffrroomm hhiigghhllyyppllaacceedd ssoouurrcceess tthhaatt ffoorrmmeerr CChhiieeff SSeeccrreettaarryySShhaakkttii SSiinnhhaa,, wwhhoo wwaass tthhee SSeeccrreettaarryy,, SShhiippppiinnggdduurriinngg tthhee CCaapptt SSeesshhaassaaii mmiissddeemmeeaannoorrss hhaaddmmeett tthhee iinnccuummbbeenntt CChhiieeff SSeeccrreettaarryy aatt CCaappiittaallaanndd wwhhaatt ccoonnssppiirreedd bbeettwweeeenn tthheemm iiss aannyy--bbooddyy’’ss gguueessss.. BBuutt,, aa vveerryy oorrcchheessttrraatteedd ggaammee iissbbeeiinngg ppllaayyeedd ttoo ddeerraaiill tthhee iinnvveessttiiggaattiioonn pprrooccee--dduurree bbyy ttrryyiinngg ttoo sseenndd tthhee ccaassee ttoo CCVVCC.. WWhheenn

tthhee DDiirreeccttoorr aanndd hhiiss ccrroonniieess ccaann bbee eeaassiillyy pprrooss--eeccuutteedd bbaasseedd oonn tthhee cchhaarrggeess ffrraammeedd aaggaaiinnsstthhiimm,, wwhhyy tthheerree iiss aa mmoovvee ttoo sseenndd tthhee ccaassee ttooCCVVCC??

TThhee iinnvveessttiiggaattiioonn iiss oovveerr aanndd cchhaarrggeess pprroovveeddbbeeyyoonndd ddoouubbtt,, cchhaarrggee sshheeeett pprreeppaarreedd,, aanndd jjuussttpprroosseeccuuttiioonn aapppprroovvaall ppeennddiinngg,, aa mmaajjoorr ppllooyy iisssseett ttoo ssaavvee oonneesseellff iinn tthhee pprreetteexxtt ooff ssaavviinngg CCaappttSSeesshhaassaaii.. TThheerree iiss mmoorree ttoo wwhhaatt iiss vviissiibbllee ttoo tthheennaakkeedd eeyyee.. IItt wwoonn''tt bbee ssuurrpprriissiinngg iiff tthhee ccaasseeggeettss ttrraannssffeerrrreedd ttoo CCVVCC aass ppllaayyeerrss aarree bbiigg aannddppoowweerrffuull..

Saving Capt Seshasai?

Its easy to blame SCI for fleec-ing the Directorate, and to bringABS into the picture, where CaptSeshasai played a major role. ABSis equally incompetent withoutprofessionals and failing on themaintenance part. First theyentered into manning and latertechnical management was alsogiven to them.

ABS has very low base strengthwithout competence and about70% of vessels are non-opera-tional. SCI, owned by the govern-ment follows certain procedures

like they have an assessment sys-tem for workshops and also main-tain annual tariff. SCI inspects theworkshop and make sure abouttheir financial and technical capa-bility. Whereas, ABS has continu-ously failed on this aspect. Still, itABS was always favoured by theDirector.

SCI has been maligned so muchby the coterie who controls theDirector as well as the Secretariat;today it is looked down by every-one. The crux of the issue is thatno kickbacks can be secured from

a government agency.Although SCI doesn't have a

single workshop, it maintains ahuge fleet. They keep a set ofapproved and registered suppli-ers and workshops on annualcontract, whereas ABS goes forinstant quotation, as and whenthe problem arises. It howeverdoes not exnorate SCI from allblames. The case of MVNancowry which had gone todrydock at Colombo in 2010 isnot running continuously since ayear. After every month of sailing,the Surveyor puts it on hold andonly gives extension for threemonths and the ship idles inChennai.

It's a curse that the Shippingsector in an Island territoryremains an issue unsolved sincedecades. Without a comprehen-sive overhaul of the system, manymore Seshasais and cronies aregoing to con the Islanders, andthe ultimate casualty is the con-nectivity.

4 |cover|STORY THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BYZUBAIRAHMED

The Directorate of ShippingServices had entered intoagreement with two cater-

ing contractors - Fareed Tradersand YAR Shipping & Catering PvtLtd for running canteensonboard MV Nancowry and MVSwarajdweep. As per the agree-ment, the contractors wererequired to supply ration to thecrew members onboard the ves-sels as per the scale prescribed atRs 200 per head per day and sub-mit bills for every month, dulycertified by the masters of thevessels after verification by theCatering Officer onboard and theAccounts Officer to the DSS forpayment.

Meanwhile, the crew memberspeeved with the quality of thefood supplied to them by theContractors had brought it to thenotice of the concerned officialstime and again. The crew mem-bers had mustered and explainedthe masters of the vessels regard-ing the sub-standard of provi-sions and poor quality of thefood. The Masters after verifyingthe complaints inspected thestores and found that provisionsin the stores were unfit forhuman consumption. Log entries

were made and the informationwas conveyed to the Directorateof Shipping Services. The crewmembers stopped acceptingration from the contractors andimplemented self-messing with

immediate effect from 1 March2008 and continued till 04 Sept2008.

In the meantime, series ofmeetings between the Unionsrepresenting the crewmembersand the officials of DSS were heldon this particular issue and final-ly self-messing was implemented

by DSS from 1 March 2009 exact-ly after one year the crew hadrequested for it. Meanwhile, thecrewmembers had started self-messing and were meting theexpenses from their pocket for a

period of one year. Records reveal that crew mem-

bers of both vessels did notreceive any ration from the con-tractors, and accordingly contrac-tors did not submit bills in respectof crews and submitted bills onlyin respect of officers for the peri-od of one year.

When the crewmembersapproached the Directorate seek-ing reimbursement of the moneyspent by them on ration, it wasout rightly rejected by the DSSstating that the reimbursement inlieu of the provisions is notadmissible.

Aggrieved by the stand of theDSS, the crewmembers repre-sented by National Union ofSeafarers of India (NUSI),approached the Tribunal, whichawarded in favour of thecrewmembers on 29 Feb 2012. Infact, the Tribunal had asked theparties to reach an amicable solu-tion. DSS represented by itsDirector, Capt K S Seshasaiinformed that the departmentshall reimburse the crew theamount due to them. Thecrewmembers after a long strug-gle won the battle. However, thestory does not end there.

When NUSI had earlierapproached the DSS seeking thedocuments related with vict-ualling for the specific period, itcame to light that the Contractorshad submitted the bills withoutthe signature of Catering Officersonboard and certificate from theMaster for each month when thecrewmembers had been selfmessing. A total amount of Rs

58.43 Lakhs was paid to theContractors.

These bills were not certified bythe master of the concerned shipsand instead they had furnishedonly the list of crews of eachmonth. It was also observed thatthe fact of self-messing was notmentioned in the notes either bythe Accounts Officer and DSSwhile passing the claims whichtantamount to undue favour tothe contractors knowingly.

The modus operandi of theDSS officers was very simple.The Bills prepared by theContractors should clearly men-tion that Catering/Victuallingcontractor has supplied/cateredto the crewmembers and the listof the crewmembers with num-ber of days and should be dulycertified by the Master andCatering Officer of the vessel. Inthis specific case, a list ofcrewmembers were attachedwithout mentioning any purposeand was only signed by theMaster, who was unaware of thepurpose of the list.

The Accounts Section and theCrew Section of the DSS shouldhave verified the facts and foundout whether ration/food wascatered to the crew before pass-ing the bill. It is very clear thatwith the connivance of the cor-rupt officers in the Directorate,the amount was bungled bythem.

When the crew approachedthe Masters to find out the fact,they also informed that they haveno record for supply of provisionsto the crew during the periodwhen they were on self-messing.But, ignoring all the precautions,the officers went ahead and paidthe amount to the contractors.

When the issue was brought tothe notice of the Dept by theUnions and other organizations,the Contractors were asked torefund the amount , but nothinghas happened yet.

The Asst Secretary Shipping onreceipt of written complaint fromGeneral Secretary, Andaman andNicobar Peoples Anti CorruptionForum against C J Antony, theacting Accounts Officer and K SSeshasai, Director had asked tosubmit a detailed report on thematter. However, no reports weresubmitted by DSS on this issue.

The Admn is yet to fix responsi-bility for such excess overpay-ment on any individual. Therecords clearly indicate that theAccounts Officer who had veri-fied the bills were fully aware ofthe facts and with due supportfrom the higher officials of theDept, had over-stepped with theconfidence that the support ofSecretary and Director will shieldhim.

Although the matter is in pub-lic domain for almost two yearsnow, any kind of punitive actionis not seen anywhere in theDepartment.

CREW RATION:RS 58 LAKH SWINDLEDHow low can a department plummet is manifested in one of the massive fraud

in which officials of Directorate of Shipping Services gobbled Rupees FiftyEight Lakhs meant for the ration of crew on two mainland going ships.

TThhee AAddmmnn iiss yyeett ttoo ffiixx rreessppoonnssiibbiilliittyy ffoorrssuucchh eexxcceessss oovveerrppaayymmeenntt oonn aannyy iinnddiivviidd--uuaall.. TThhee rreeccoorrddss cclleeaarrllyy iinnddiiccaattee tthhaatt tthheeAAccccoouunnttss OOffffiicceerr wwhhoo hhaadd vveerriiffiieedd tthhee bbiillllsswweerree ffuullllyy aawwaarree ooff tthhee ffaaccttss aanndd wwiitthh dduueessuuppppoorrtt ffrroomm tthhee hhiigghheerr ooffffiicciiaallss ooff tthheeDDeepptt,, hhaadd oovveerr--sstteeppppeedd wwiitthh tthhee ccoonnffii--ddeennccee tthhaatt tthhee ssuuppppoorrtt ooff SSeeccrreettaarryy aannddDDiirreeccttoorr wwiillll sshhiieelldd hhiimm..

5 |cover|STORY THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

CCaapptt SSeesshhaassaaii iiss lleeaarrnntt ttoo hhaavveebbeeeenn rreeppaattrriiaatteedd aafftteerr tthhee ccoorr--rruuppttiioonn cchhaarrggeess aaggaaiinnsstt hhiimm.. WWiilllltthhee bbuucckk ssttoopp aatt hhiimm oorr aarree tthheerreemmoorree ppeeooppllee iinnvvoollvveedd??

We are fully aware of manyissues during the period of CaptSeshasai, but his repatriationwas purely an administrativedecision, nothing to do with cor-ruption charges. The Directorwas not technically competent totake major decisions on procure-ment. Most of the administrativedecisions taken by the Directorwere also not very sound. Thefile on corruption charges is withSecretary Vigilance.

Anyway, there is no attempt toprotect Capt Seshasai. As far as Iknow, he is fully trapped. I havelearnt that there are more than 4people whose name features inthe charge sheet. We havealready shunted some of themout of DSS.

There are many decisions,where Seshasai has taken us for aride. MF Samsun is a disaster. Wewere fooled by Capt Seshasai.The contract was given toShipping Corporation of India.Capt Seshasai co-opted and wentand made a very bad selection.The whole selection process wasflawed. It was purely a "swayam-var." The L1 ship was rejected onwhimsical reasons. There was nocomparative statement.Moreover, we were time andagain told by Capt Seshasai thatit's a 600-pax ship, whereas, Ihad personally asked Secretaryto count and found out that it canonly accommodate 344 and oddpassengers. We are paying aboutRs 9 lakh for a 40-year old ship,which cannot run on its opti-mum speed. The air-condition-ing shuts down if it's run ondesigned speed more than 11knots. We are planning to imme-diately send the ship back.

DDSSSS iiss tthhee sseeccoonndd llaarrggeesstt fflleeeettaafftteerr SSCCII.. BBuutt wwee ddoonn''tt ppoosssseessssDDooccuummeenntt ooff CCoommpplliiaannccee.. TThheerree

aarree ssoo mmaannyy iissssuueess wwiitthh tthheeRReegguullaattoorryy bbooddiieess.. WWhhyy iiss DDSSSSnnoott uuppggrraaddeedd iinnttoo SShhiippppiinnggCCoorrppoorraattiioonn?? WWhhyy SShhiippppiinngg iissmmiissssiinngg ffrroomm tthhee IIDDAA aaggeennddaa??

During the recent visit ofMinister of Shipping, all theseissues came up for discussion.He has assured that for the liai-son issues with SCI, DGShipping, MMD and IRS, therewill be a high-powered commit-tee. It will be headed with JtSecretary Shipping and from ourside; person incharge ofShipping will attend the meet-ings. The first meeting of theCommittee was held on 16 Oct,in which Secretary, Shipping tooattended in which three issueswere broadly decided - strength-ening of port management andinfrastructure, the Ministry ofShipping will ensure that allGovt institutions like IRS, MMD,DG Shipping and SCI willupgrade their facilities here. TwoChief Engineer-level personsfrom SCI will be posted here. Wedon't have to send all papers toKolkata to IRS as they will havefull-fledged office here itself.

As majority of issues have beenalready sorted, it does not fea-ture in the agenda of StandingCommittee of IDA. On the morn-ing of 17 Oct, Secretary, PlanningCommission also took a meetingin which many other issues relat-ed with Shipping came up fordiscussion. We hope that thehigh-powered committee is theanswer to many of our problems.

Moreover, the StandingCommittee Meeting of IDA isheld only once a year, and theIDA meeting in two years. Whatwe should do is most of theissues we are fighting should betaken up in the monitoring com-mittee under PlanningCommission, which meets morefrequently.

WWhhyy tthhee AAddmmnn ddooeess nnoott ccoonn--ssuulltt aannyybbooddyy bbeeffoorree tthhee aaggeennddaaffoorr IIDDAA iiss ffiinnaalliizzeedd??

You are right. There shouldhave been an all party meeting,PRIs and other civil societyorganizations before the IDAagenda is taken to PlanningCommission. Even public spirit-ed citizens can give their view-point. But we have seen that thelast IDA meeting began andended with a fiasco. In the agen-da we had listed outstandingissues, tourism policy, Jarawapolicy and suggestions of the MP.But, time did not permit toaddress all issues.

WWhhyy iissssuueess lliikkee wwaaiivviinngg ooffff ooffRRaappiidd EEIIAA ffoorr bbaatthhrroooommss,, cchhaanngg--iinngg rroooommss aanndd wwaayyssiiddee aammeennii--ttiieess ffeeaattuurree iinn IIDDAA mmeeeettiinnggss?? IIss iittnnoott ffrriivvoolloouuss?? WWhhyy ccaann''tt ssuucchh

iissssuueess bbee ssoorrtteedd oouutt aatt llooccaalllleevveell??

It's not a frivolous matter. TheDept of Environment and Foresthas been creating hurdles atevery stage. The Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests havetaken a stand that even suchminor issues should go to theirstanding committee. Since wehave formed ANCZMA, all suchissues should be sorted out atChief Secretary Level. Forinstance, the LieutenantGovernor had sent a communi-cation regarding a clearance toMoEF almost a year ago. But,MoEF denies saying that theyhave not received the letter. EvenShashi Kumar, PCCF said that hehad sent it eleven months ago.

Now, when such discussionscome up at IDA meeting, it showsthe apathy of MoEF.

WWhhaatt iiss tthhee ssttaattuuss ooff qquuaarrrryyaauuccttiioonniinngg?? DDoo yyoouu tthhiinnkk aauucc--ttiioonn ccaann rraattiioonnaalliizzee tthhee pprriiccee ooffeenndd--pprroodduuccttss??

In the last week a lot has hap-pened. The auction notice forquarry sites is already out. Theroyalty has been revised from Rs1.77 per cbm to Rs 5 per cbm. Ifwe had increased it further, itwould have become a reason tohike the price of end-product. Itis the prerogative of the quarryowners; however, he cannot hikethe price which is beyond thereach of common people. Weneed to look into this.

BY STAFF REPORTER

The Andaman and NicobarAdmn have announced theauction notice for quarry

operations in South AndamanDistrict. Five blocks with 40 sitesof 0.250 hectares each inBrookshabad village has beenidentified with two blocks whereuse of explosives have been per-mitted and three blocks, whereusage of explosives not permit-ted. The auction will be held on29 Nov 2012 and the quarryleases will be granted for theperiod upto 30 June 2015.

Following the meeting of the

Standing Committee of IDA heldon 17 Oct in New Delhi, the A&NAdmn has also decided to inviteapplications for allotment ofsand from identified non eco-sensitive areas.

It's a fact that the Islands arereeling under severe scarcity ofconstruction and quarry materi-als. One truckload of 20-mmquarry metal costs about Rs9000/- and a truckload of sandcosts about Rs 17000/- unparal-leled anywhere in the country.The whole territory is blamingthe Admn for the scarcity as wellas the rising costs.

It's alleged that non-availabili-

ty of construction material hasseverely affected the develop-mental activities. The Andamanof Chamber of Commerce hasbeen taking up this issue at everypossible forum.

The quarry licenses were notrenewed this year after theAdmn was forced to notify TheAndaman and Nicobar MinorMinerals Rules 2012.

Now, after the notification, theAdmn abiding by the SupremeCourt dictum has preferred toauction the minor minerals. "Infact, the Home Ministry has notgiven us any other option, butauction," said Jalaj Srivastav,

Principal Secretary Revenue. A minimum reserve price

(MRP) of Rs 4 lakhs per site hasbeen fixed and the lease holderhas been permitted to extract amaximum of 12000 cbm perannum from the quarry site,roughly, 2400 truckloads.

Although, the auction hasbeen finalized by the Admn,there is no clarity about fixationof the price for the end product.With auction as the option tolease the quarry sites, it wouldbecome the prerogative of thequarry owners to fix the price."The royalty is increased to Rs 5from Rs 1.75 per cbm, but we

have not fixed any tariff for theend-product," said JalajSrivastav.

With different sites going forauction at different rates, itwould be a tough task to fix thetariff for the products in themarket. It has to be seen thathow the Admn acts and regu-lates the price. Even if the mate-rial becomes available, and nochecks are put on the price, theIslanders will once again feel theheat.

In the same vein, the ForestDept has invited applicationfrom the Islanders who requiresea sand, but the procedures fol-lowed will only help the contrac-tors to grab as much as possiblewith no proper system of scruti-ny put at place.

Quarry Auction: Will it Rationalize Price?

INTERVIEW: JALAJ SRIVASTAVA,Principal Secretary, Shipping, Planning and Revenue

MF SAMSON IS A DISASTER: JALAJ

6 |cover|STORY THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BY STAFF REPORTER

Opposition Parties are pillarsof a democracy. If not forthem, the ruling party

would have all its own way. Wewould be living in a dictatorshipor a monarchy. Our Islands toohave opposition parties of all huesand colour. Though, theseIslands boast of a lone member ofparliament amongst the opposi-tion's ranks, it's seldom that hisvoice is taken seriously -majorityof which is his very own undoing.The Congress and its allies rulethe Centre but the equation is dif-ferent as few of its' central allieslike the DMK here are with theopposition. This has come aboutbecause of local equations largelydue to the local bodies of self gov-ernance.

Equations change for all thesepower hungry parties as andwhen its suits them. PBMC or theZilla Parishads are governed bydifferent dynamics and hence noopposition is offered there for itscomposition. You take care of myneeds and I'll take care of yours isthe magic mantra. Damned bethe electorates whom they are toface after five long years. If theseparties can fill up its coffers, theJanta can be managed next elec-tions with ease is a popular rule.

Recently, lot of hope was kin-dled with the announcement thatthe major opposition parties haveformed a common platform forthe Islands economic develop-ment. Parties like the BJP, TMC,DMK, AIADMK, TDP and the CPI(M) came together to chalk out anagenda about taking on the localAdmn and the Govt. of India;pressing for a demand of self gov-ernance in the form of aLegislative Assembly. The causelooked noble, as in a democracypeople should be masters of theirown destiny which unfortunatelyhere is in the hands of a fewbureaucrats considered insensi-tive or lacking any foresight led bythe longest servingAdministrator- an ex- Army man.

Our principle opposition par-ties put on a grandiose plan oftaking on a trip to national capitalNew Delhi where the seat of ulti-mate power lies in the country.Armed with two memorandumsand the experience of the veteranstalwart ex- MP ManoranjanBhakta as their leading light, withover two decades of experience inrepresenting this Island territoryproceeded to meet President ofour country and the council ofministers. Some of these partychiefs were meeting local tradersand citizens with a request tofund their arduous journey for anoble cause. People obliged withgreat hope that something goodwould come out of it and thesetrips don't come cheap. Thirtymore red light vehicles for ourfuture ministers and legislatorswere on the anvil or so we

believed. A joint press conference was

organized and copies of the mem-orandums handed over to thelocal media followed by high tea.The memorandums made a goodread lacking any great focus onpressing home people's perspec-tive on state of affairs. President(who knows more about theseIslands by virtue of being in Govt.for decades than an averagepolitician) was given a lesson ongeography of the Islands, revisit-ing the Tsunami of 2004 andother demographic details fol-lowed by a plethora of issuesplaguing the Islanders, chiefbeing - enough of the Lt. General's(Retd.) governance, need for aLegislative Assembly and releaseof twenty four reputed quarryoperators denied bail unjustlypre-trial on an illegal explosiveshaul case.

Other issues were inserted inbetween citing stagnation ofdevelopment due to pot holes andslush on the roads for the last

decade, strangulation of demo-cratic institutions like the PRI's,ignoring of the lone Member ofParliament by the Admn anddrafting of draconian notifica-tions like the Buffer Zone. It wasstartling to note that one of thearchitects or onlooker of this pre-mature exit of the PradeshParishad is the leading light ofthis association of opposition par-ties now and was an MP in themajority of the last decade whendevelopment didn't take placewith his government at the centrethen. Bhakta could have shedsome light on it as well, being asenior statesman and an ex-par-liamentarian not known forexpressing his views vociferouslyin the Parliament.

As the first memorandum withthe subject on LegislativeAssembly and other issues has sig-natures of all the opposition polit-ical parties representatives, thesecond memorandum on the sub-ject- non-availability of quarryproducts do not have the CPI(M)

representative’s signature. Doesthis imply that the unity amongthese parties still needs someironing out? When the issue ofshortage of quarry products wasincorporated in the first memo-randum, what was the need orthe urgency of driving home thispoint along with bail of twentyfour respectable businessmen onthe illegal explosive haul case?

The matter is sub-judice and

sooner or later justice will prevail.The accused respectable busi-nessmen have the resources andthe connections to avail the bestof legal services available in thecountry and if they are innocent,nothing is preventing them fromproving themselves innocent orbeing granted bail. They are allsuffering from several ailments asare we- the common Islandersdue to lack of proper medical

ALL PARTY FIASCOTOO MANY COOKS...There were great expectations from the opposition dharnaat Tiranga Park on the 16 Oct but it turned out to be moreof a political jamboree of contradictions. Everyone wassinging his or her own tune and some of the speeches werenonsensical lacking any vision or ideas.

7 |cover|STORY THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BYZUBAIRAHMED

The All-party combine, whichhad all ingredients for a per-fect blast however could not

make a mark, as it was purely amarriage of inconvenience fromagendas varying from party toparty. CPIM, which had success-fully inserted the agenda ofAssembly from day one, whenChamber of Commerce hadcalled an All Party meeting to takethe Admn head-on on major con-tentious issues, however couldnot keep the flock togetherfocused on its common minimumagenda. The Light of Andamansconfronted K G Das, StateSecretary, CPIM on issues, whichwere discussed on the sidelines ofthe public meeting and tokendharna held last fortnight.Excerpts from a free-wheelingtalk:

WWhhyy ssuucchh aa mmoovvee aatt tthhiiss ppooiinntt??We are tired of this

Administration and the arbitraryactions of the Administrator. AfterTsunami, soon after LGBhopinder Singh took charge, hehad announced a freshwater lakeat Sippighat, heightening ofDhanikhari Dam, Pipeline fromRutland. Nothing is happening onthe ground and its clear manifes-tation of inefficiency. We had senta memorandum to HomeMinistry on various issues.

When MM Lakhera was theAdministrator, in an all partymeeting he had openly said thatpopular and elected leaders

should not work under thebureaucrats and should be alwaysabove them. Whatever work ordevelopment takes place withouta democratic setup will remainaimless and directionless.Lakhera had even approached thePMO and raised this issue for ademocratic setup for the Islands.

There is a limitation for thebureaucrats to take up the issues.For eg. Do the Deputy ResidentCommissioner (DRC), a juniorlevel officer posted at Delhi havethe guts to go and meet theMinisters or Secretaries in theCapital?

IIss iitt nnoott ssuurrpprriissiinngg ttoo nnoottee tthhaattCCPPIIMM iiss wwiitthh tthhee CChhaammbbeerr ooffCCoommmmeerrccee ttoo ppuurrssuuee tthheeiirr aaggeenn--ddaa??

You are right. Sometime back,Chamber of Commerce used toexert same kind of power whichthe leader of a particular partywields today. There was a timewhen like the corporate sectorused to act in Mainland, camou-flaged Chamber used to do it inthe Islands.

AAsssseemmbbllyy hhaass bbeeeenn yyoouurr aaggeenn--ddaa ffoorr aa lloonngg ttiimmee.. BBuutt,, BBhhaakkttaawwaass oonn tthhee hheellmm ooff aaffffaaiirrss wwhheennPPrraaddeesshh PPaarriisshhaadd wwaass aabboolliisshheedd..HHooww ccaann yyoouu jjuussttiiffyy hhiiss ddeemmaannddnnooww??

When Left and DemocraticFront was in power at PradeshParishad, and people startedapproaching the Councillors forredressal of their problems, theMember of Parliament's populari-

ty and need started to dwindleand became marginal, whichforced him to support the damag-ing step. Entry of VakkomPurushottaman as LieutenantGovernor was to wipe out allopposition and prepare a clearground for Congress. And it suc-ceeded to an extent. The first stepwas abolishing of PradeshParishad, the fore-runner toAssembly and introduction of 3-tier Panchayati Raj Institution anunjustified democratic institutionfunctioning under the shadows ofbureaucracy. But, he realized thefolly soon after Vakkom started tosideline him. Vakkom-Bhakta duoalso took another decision onmodifying the RR for directrecruitment of HGC, which washowever, dropped after resistancefrom various quarters. He has fal-tered at different points. But, hewas very vocal about Assemblywhich was his foremost demand,when he sat on an indefinitehunger strike as an MP.

DDoo yyoouu tthhiinnkk tthhiiss uunnhhoollyyaalllliiaannccee ooff ppaarrttiieess wwiitthh vvaarriieeddiinntteerreessttss ccaann rreemmaaiinn ffooccuusseedd oonntthhiiss iissssuuee??

First of all, this is not a politicalfront, but a platform with a com-mon minimum programme. Weare not averse to the idea of othercivil society organizations andeminent people joining this plat-form and demanding Assemblyfor the Islands.

As far as varied interests areconcerned, its natural that all par-ties have different shades and

Interview: KG Das, State Secretary, CPIM

Trying to Keep the Flock Together

have diverse agenda. If you takethe freedom struggle, it was ahuge alliance of various partiesand ideologies with a commonminimum agenda of achievingfreedom from foreign yoke. But,most of the groups had their ownagendas too, which they startedto pursue soon afterIndependence.

We met the President of India,Pranab Mukherjee, who was alsothe Head of the Ministerial Groupon Assembly for the Islands. Allthe leaders, we met have shownvery positive attitude. But westrongly feel that until and unless,people of Island raise their voicefor an Assembly, it's not going tomaterialize.

BBuutt,, eexxcceepptt CCPPMM,, aallll ootthheerrmmaajjoorr ppaarrttiieess wweerree hhaarrppiinngg oonn aassiinnggllee aaggeennddaa ooff rreelleeaassee ooff tthhoosseejjaaiilleedd iinn tthhee EExxpplloossiivvee SSeeiizzuurreeCCaassee,, cciittiinngg iitt aass tthhee ccaauussee ffoorr tthheessttaaggnnaatteedd ddeevveellooppmmeennttaall aaccttiivvii--ttiieess iinn tthhee IIssllaannddss??

Our stand is very clear in thisissue. We know that most of themare highlighting the Explosivecase. We have already demandeda full-fledged CBI enquiry intothis matter. We have some appre-hensions like Admn is shyingaway from an explicit enquiry asimport of huge quantity of explo-sives have been going on for last

fifteen years. It will also implicatemany powerful persons in theAdministration, who were in con-nivance running the whole show.

I have gone through the chargesheet and the statement ofArumugam. When asked theyinformed us that it was a political-ly vindictive action against thequarry lobby, who were on thewrong side of Congress duringthe last General Elections.Moreover, they also mentionedthat the switching of wholesaletrader at Chennai too wentagainst them.

However, our party is not goingto interfere at any point on thisissue. It's a matter under sub-judice but, we feel that concentra-tion of power at any level is verydangerous.

WWhhaatt iiss tthhee rreessppoonnssee yyoouu aarreeggeettttiinngg aafftteerr tthhee AAllll--PPaarrttyyMMeeeettiinngg aatt TTiirraannggaa PPaarrkk??

The response is quite encourag-ing. However, many parties couldnot stick to the determined pathand faltered here and there. Manyof them were focusing on individ-uals and got down to slanderingand smear, which is unwarrant-ed. However, it is learnt thatLieutenant Governor has startedto collect profiles and bio-data ofthe leaders, as if it's going to intim-idate us.

facilities. This does not qualify usto get involved in illegal activitiesand face prosecution from thecomfort of our living rooms.There was a time not long agowhen the same opposition andeven the present MP and the BJPwould levy charges on these veryrespectable businessmen of beingunjustly granted quarry licensesoverlooking deserving educatedunemployed youths and othersand indiscriminately exploitingthe fragile Island's ecology.

Trying to create pressure on thelaw enforcing agencies like thepolice does not go well with thecommon masses who want to seelight at the end of the tunnel.

Strictures or decisions could beharsh but the accused haveavenues to plead their case.Bringing it before the President ofthe country when the Islandersare reeling under several othergenuine day to day basic issueshas dealt a severe blow to thecredibility of this motley group ofpoliticians. Majority of thesereputed businessmen are highranking Congress politicians hav-ing rubbed shoulders with thehigh and the mighty during theirbetter days and hence theseavenues would not have goneunexplored is anyone's guess.

There were great expectationsfrom the opposition dharna at

Tiranga Park on the 16 Oct but itturned out to be more of a politi-cal jamboree of contradictions.Everyone was singing his or herown tune and some of the speech-es were nonsensical lacking anyvision or ideas.

The amount spent on publicity,biryani, lavish arrangements andthe hype it created could havebeen better utilized for drivinghome a point- loud and clear tothe admn that the masses havehad enough of this gross misman-agement and onemanship. Whatit achieved sadly is disconnectwith the needs of people of theseislands and more of a platform forfurthering sectarian agenda. The

Admn instead of getting con-cerned about growing discontentamong the Islanders about itsways is having a field day by theway the opposition has put up itsviews.

Changes are not to be seen inthe near future if issues are takenup the way it is now by the oppo-sition parties. They have flunkeda great opportunity and let's see ifsomething more concrete comesup in days ahead. These partieshave to first set up their ownhouses in order before taking onan unresponsive Admn.

Mass mobilization is tough andwhen such opportunities beckonus, it should send shivers up the

spines of the wrongdoers. Everywing of the Administration ishead deep into corruption; nepo-tism and gross mismanagementbut all of them go scot free. Theend result is compromise on thequality of basic services, irre-versible degradation of the envi-ronment and snatching of oppor-tunities of our youth and com-mon man. The opposition cannotbe mute spectators and try toscore personal points blaming iton development or the lack of it. Itshould take another shot nexttime better prepared and with acommon man oriented agendainvolving all the stakeholders fortheir views and suggestions.

8 |edit|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

0011 NNoovveemmbbeerr 22001122 || VVooll 3366 IIssssuuee 0033

Na kuch kehte hi banta hai, Na chup rehte hi banta haiHamara bhee to is mitti se aakhir wastha hai kuch - (Raz Andamani)

Death on Self Service!S

et aside the demand for quarry materials, forget scarcityof vegetables or life sustaining potable water. There wasan urgent and immediate need for a self-servicing wine

shop in the heart of the town. Don’t blame the Administrationif it was not properly advertised, or given the publicity itrequired. It was on the top priority to have a place with theambience of a mall, where one can walk, choose a bottle ofpoison, to make merry and forget all other worries that gripthe Islanders. The new look wine shop from ANIIDCO isanother move of the Admn, towards achieving the muchneeded revenue that is the foremost focus of the people-cen-tric government.

As if the number of bars in the city and wine shops run byANIIDCO at different points were not enough to push thesmall population of the Islands to the abyss of death, the newformat shop in the most presentable manner offers death inthe most modish style.

The long queues at the wine shops, with a bag in hand tohide the bottle they purchase manifested the inherent embar-rassment everyone has to the habit they nurture. Now, stopthinking about the disgrace or ignominy attached with alco-holism, or the queue in front of the shops, it’s the new fad towalk in style into the showroom where everyone on the streetcan see the brand one prefers and even take your family andchildren while you shop for the preferred brand. It’s offered insuch a style! Who cares about the shocking press meet lastmonth, in which Director General of Police SBS Deol hadrevealed that the police gets about 4-5 complaints every dayon attempted suicides from the Islands. Now what’s the con-nection, one might ask. Alcohol has been one of the principalkillers in the Islands. The amount of liquor that flows in theIslands has no parallel anywhere in the country. The numberof excise related cases and family disintegration issues willfind a link that leads to alcoholism.

Now don’t ask why nobody is bothered. We were neverbothered, when we went through severe water crisis, inter-mittent power cuts or when the developmental works wereaffected due to non-availability of construction materials. Itseems the Admn also fully understands our priorities. Evenwithout asking or demanding, they have opened the wineshowroom for our convenience. Now, don’t blame the Admnfor not asking us. When have they asked us before taking anymajor step, for the good or bad of the Islanders?

But note it down - gradually our aversion towards alco-holism is also going to evaporate. Now, when we walkthrough the street with our children, chances are there thatthey will force us to visit the newly opened showroom just forthe charm of it, like they force us to have a bite of AFC chick-en. Why the Admn never gives a thought on opening up freshvegetable shops or even generic medicine shops at every nookand corner of the Islands? May be the new economic policies,where growth and profits are the only motive doesn't evenallow them to think on that line.

The priorities of the Admn are indeed very strange. But if weremain mute spectators to such moves of the Admn, it’s a nota good sign for a society, which still claims to be the descen-dents of freedom fighters, who dreamt of a sane polity in fullsenses.

BYBASUDEVDASS

All the Jetties and wharves in the islands havebeen named after the name of the place butone. The lone Jetty at Port Blair was named

after the vessel Steam Ship-SS Cholunga asCholunga Jetty. Call it a vessel and the Master, sorry,the Captain of the Ship, Mr. Gomez will behave furi-ous. She was a Ship for the Captain Mr. Gomez whoclaimed that she alone caused the initial develop-ment of Middle and North Andaman area, riding onwhich; today's Maddhyottar Andaman district isthriving. To a greater extent he was true.

'Cholunga' never missed a sailing except when onannual survey. One could correct watch timing withthe movement of the vessel. From Cholunga Jetty,filling tons of Coal in its belly togenerate steam, it would sailout sharp at 0700 hrs everyWednesday for Diglipur viaRangat and Mayabunder andwould reach back alongside theCholunga Jetty sharp at 1715hrs at Port Blair on Saturday.May whatever come; the stake-holders of the vessel will neverclaim that she had ever ditchedthem on the plea of roughweather or breakdown, yearsafter years, till it finally retired.It would carry poultry birds,cows, buffaloes, goats, con-struction materials includingsteel, cement bags along-withhuman beings including farm-ers, businessmen, peon, senior as well as junior offi-cers of A&N Administration without a feeling ofhatred and discrimination. She was a true socialist bynature and an advocate of harmony amongst menand men and men and animals.

The steam ship Cholunga took up her obligationswhen those Islands were just trying to stand on itsfeet and remained with them till it could bear thewrath of the mis-visionary people's vision at the laterstage. 'The situation of the intervention of apex courtwould never arise had our so called Delhi basedLords governing these islands would have thought ofdeveloping the water-ways instead of the road-waysin the name of ATR', once said Late Janab FSRiazuddin in an informal chat with the writer citingthe example of 'The Cholunga'. Janab Riazuddin toowas a bureaucrat, but from these islands with localblood, who rose to the level of DeputyCommissioner. 'When there was nothing, the water-ways alone was responsible for a slow but steadydevelopment in the region from Port Blair toDiglipur, then why the planners did not find a way toimprove and modernise the existing path instead ofexploring the alternative'. 'A million dollar questionwith lone answer - vested interest of bureaucrats-politicians-businessmen (contractors) nexus', hehimself answered to his reservations. An insatiablereader by nature he had commented that there exist-ed many island-nations where waterways was theonly lifeline where criss-crossing sea- distances of50-100 Kms was subjected to daily routine.

"We could count the number of vessels the thenMarine Department had to cater to the needs of thepeople of outer islands. They did not have the com-forts and speed but fulfilled the needs of the com-

monest of commons. A farmer or a businessman wasnever denied of his belongings of bunches ofbananas, poultry and goat or cartoons of biscuits,clothes and grains. The vessels were slow but strongenough to face the wrath of nature", said lateMahananda Biswas, a senior former Congressleader.

'The present set of vessels had comforts like speedand air-conditioning (on papers) but will not alloweven personal belongings. And as far as the potencyis concerned, if 200 passengers vent their air out atone go, the 'air-conditioned Tin kaa Dibbas' will cryfor postponement of its voyage', sarcastically com-mented a passenger at Phoenix Bay jetty who failedto reach his destination since the 75-pax vessel hadabandoned it voyage on a plea of bad weather.

In 1968, I was accompanyingmy parents from Car Nicobar toPort Blair. My father had to takea transfer since I had opted forScience stream from class 9thand Carnic school did not havethe facility. We had to sail byTSS Yerewa which hadanchored kilometers away fromshore at Mus Jetty. A boat or aHoudi (Country boat made byNicobarese) would pull a pon-toon carrying passengers andgoods along-side the vessel andthe Nicobaree workers wouldsupport the transportation ofthe people as well as the goodsto the ship through a narrowladder hanged on the side of the

ship. The sea was too rough and as a kid I was pray-ing that the vessel should postpone the journey. Butthen someone took me on his shoulder and I was onthe deck of the ship. Anxious to see my mother's safearrival on the deck I could see one of the big woodencartons fell in to the sea while being transported. Iwas shocked. The box belonged to us. But soon 2-3workers jumped into the turbulent sea and lifted thebox that finally reached to us on board the ship.Despite all such situations the ship did not postponeits journey and sailed right on time. My mother fellsick and I had vomited a lot during the two-day jour-ney of the vessel that reached Port Blair in time with-out fail. Gone are the days when one can predict hisarrival at any Port travelling on board the presentfleet of ships/vessels. Construction of vessels areplanned, ordered and inspected by those in theAdministration as well as the Lt. Governor, who willnever board such a vessel but will take a chopper orsea-plane to reach other island. No matter the builtship will reach years after the due date of completionand then; even after arrival; will initiate her maidenvoyage after years and again call off its sailing withthe throw of the hat on any plea. None is accountableand answerable. Things are becoming identical toChinese goods. Use and throw and sometimes, don'teven use but throw. More wastage- more orders,more orders-more commissions, more commission-more accumulation for generation after generation!

'Exchequer's money! Who cares? Live but don't letlive is becoming the key mantras of many. The restare only allowed to be proud of their past, decry overthe present and be ready to have a ****ed off future'commented an Executive Engineer of APWDepartment in his late fifties.

Cholunga ProvedWaterways the Best

'Cholunga' never missed a sail-ing except when on annualsurvey. One could correct

watch timing with the move-ment of the vessel. From

Cholunga Jetty, filling tons ofCoal in its belly to generate

steam, it would sail out sharpat 0700 hrs every Wednesday

for Diglipur via Rangat andMayabunder and would reachback alongside the CholungaJetty sharp at 1715 hrs at Port

Blair on Saturday.

T H E F O R T N I G H T L Y V I E W S M A G A Z I N E

9 |opED|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

In a recent press release theAdministration has posted apicture of the Administrator

conducting his weekly Durbarwith five Anganwadi workers allclad in pink sarees. A mix of eld-erly and young ladies was allshown as standing in the picturewith the Lt. Governor and hisSecretary seated. The Lt.Governor, A & N Islands hadaccorded sanction for revision ofSupplementary NutritionProgramme from Rs. 5 per dayto Rs. 8.50 per day for normalchildren and adolescent girlsand from Rs. 6 per day to Rs. 10Per day for pregnant and lactat-ing mothers. Similarly, forseverely malnourished childrenfrom Rs. 8 per day to Rs. 13.50per day under Integrated ChildDevelopment Services pro-gramme with immediate effectfor providing supplementarynutrition. The Anganwadi work-ers are paid a monthly honorari-um of Rs 4000/- and upon hear-ing the above news went aheadwith the request for increase ofRs 1000/- in their honorariumstoo as subjects in the durbar ofthe Raj Niwas. On this day andage a payment of Rs 5000/- formeeting one's basic requirementis asking for too much. The Lt.Governor had given them apatient hearing about consider-ing a hike in their honorariumsbut his secretariat failed to offerthem a seat to sit in the durbar asis suggested in the released pho-tograph.

The Anganwadi System underICDS is a Government of Indiasponsored programme, which isIndia's primary social welfarescheme to tackle malnutritionand health problems in childrenbelow 6 years of age and their

mothers. The main beneficiariesof the programme are aimed tobe the girl child up to her adoles-cence, all children below 6 yearsof age, pregnant and lactatingmothers. The gender promotionof the girl child by trying to bringher at par with the male child isa key component of the scheme.With the advent of Developmentagencies making a beeline forthe Islands post tsunami of2004, it was these very serviceswhich attracted a majority of theNGO's to pour in their interven-tions. Over the years it hasgrown into one of the largestintegrated family and communi-ty welfare schemes in the world.

Our islands have over 604

Anganwadi Centres spreadacross the length and breadth ofit with equal no of Anganwadiworkers and helpers. Theseladies serve as a key linkbetween the community and theSocial Welfare and HealthDepartments. These ladies alsoembark upon various surveys forthe National Rural HealthMission from time to time. Forthe Social Welfare departmentfor children upto six years theprogramme offers six packagesincluding Supplementary nutri-tion, Immunization, Referralservices, Non-formal pre educa-tion, Health checkups andHealth and Nutrition Educationfor Children. Under Rajiv

Gandhi Scheme for empower-ment of Girl Child as SABLA sup-plementary nutrition is providedto adolescent girl child of 14-18years and for 11- 14 years dropout girls are also enrolled.Pregnant and Nursing mothersare also cared for under IndiraGandhi Maitrik Sanjog Yojanawhere in Rs 4000 assistance isgiven to mothers in three install-ments in their bank accounts.Anganwadi workers deliverservices to these mothers bymaintaining their pregnancycards, immunization schedulesand nutritional requirements.Delivery of services under ICDSscheme is managed in an inte-grated manner through

Anganwadi centre by theseAnganwadi workers.

Going through the servicesthese Anganwadi workers offerto the community it would havebeen minimum courtesy on thepart of the Lt. Governor's secre-tariat to atleast release a photo-graph (irrespective of what hap-pened at the Durbar; whetherthese ladies were offered seats ornot ) depicting them in a morerespectable vein for the placethey deserve in the society. Thiswould have given these ladiesthe encouragement and thedesire to offer selfless service tothe society in strengthening ourNational Policy for Children. OurAdministration boosts of innu-merable babus glued to theirchairs by virtue of their incom-petence and great degree ofyesmanship towards their boss-es. On and off meetings of thecommon Islanders with the Lt.Governor would have beencoined by one of these Babu's asweekly Durbar. Durbar in thisday and age sounds medieval,feudal and smells of our colonialmindset hangover. TheseDurbars here takes place as perthe convenience of the bossesand its frequency is anybody'sguess. Calling on theAdministrator is no easy task asthe famous reply to audienceseekers or the subjects is to meetthe concerned Babu than meet-ing the Raj Niwas' most impor-tant occupant. The ambiencearound the majestic Durbar isintimidating to the commonman with high security, innu-merable hassles, busy for noth-ing staff jostling each other, pol-ished padauk furniture (wouldlose its sheen if touched) and theuncertain wait till the Raj Niwas'most important occupant sur-faces. Nobody would ask thecommon subjects to have a seatand if the Durbaries don't offeryou one be content to quicklyput across your plea and vanish.So much so, for power to thepeople.

PAUPER’S LOGABU ARSH

Durbar and Durbaries

My mom only had one eye. Ihated her… She was suchan embarrassment. She

cooked for students and teachersto support the family.

There was this one day duringelementary school where mymom came to say hello to me. Iwas so embarrassed.

How could she do this to me? Iignored her, threw her a hatefullook and ran out. The next day atschool one of my classmates said,‘EEEE, your mom only has oneeye!’

I wanted to bury myself. I also

wanted my mom to just disap-pear. I confronted her that dayand said, ‘ If you’re only gonnamake me a laughing stock, whydon’t you just die?’

My mom did not respond… Ididn’t even stop to think for a sec-ond about what I had said,because I was full of anger. I wasoblivious to her feelings.

I wanted out of that house, andhave nothing to do with her. So I

studied real hard, got a chance togo abroad to study.

Then, I got married. I bought ahouse of my own. I had kids ofmy own. I was happy with mylife, my kids and the comforts.Then one day, my Mother cameto visit me. She hadn’t seen me inyears and she didn’t even meether grandchildren.

When she stood by the door,my children laughed at her, and I

yelled at her for coming overuninvited. I screamed at her,‘How dare you come to my houseand scare my children!’ GET OUTOF HERE! NOW!!!’

And to this, my mother quietlyanswered, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. Imay have gotten the wrongaddress,’ and she disappearedout of sight.

One day, a letter regarding aschool reunion came to myhouse. So I lied to my wife that Iwas going on a business trip.After the reunion, I went to theold shack just out of curiosity.

My neighbors said that shedied. I did not shed a single tear.They handed me a letter that shehad wanted me to have.

‘My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I’msorry that I came to your houseand scared your children.

I was so glad when I heard youwere coming for the reunion. ButI may not be able to even get outof bed to see you. I’m sorry that Iwas a constant embarrassment toyou when you were growing up.

You see……..when you werevery little, you got into an acci-dent, and lost your eye. As amother, I couldn’t stand watch-ing you having to grow up withone eye. So I gave you mine.

I was so proud of my son whowas seeing a whole new worldfor me, in my place, with thateye.

With all my love to you,Your mother.’

SACRED | SPACE

My Mom Only Had One Eye

10 |features|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BYSAJANGOPALAN

From Shoal Bay 15, where westopped the car, it is a longwalk to Shoal Bay 19. We

could have hired a jeep if the rainshave not made big dents on theway. But it turned out to be goodbecause as we have learned laterit helped us live the life of the vil-lagers at least for a day. We willalso find later that it was goodthat we forgot to carry the packedlunch of toast and omlette.

The sky was overcast and insidethe forest path grew darker. Itwas slippery all throughout andall of us had a fair share of fall andbruises. There is no sound otherthan that of the footsteps. Buteventually the silence gave way tothe cacophony of bird songs. Anorchestra in the jungle. Tall,white, straight garjan trees stoodupright giving the forest an ele-gant geometrical pattern. In thedarkness created by shadows wejust missed stepping on a snake.

"It is the Andha Samp, the blindsnake" said one of the bastiwal-lahs who were coming back afterwork and speeding ahead to beatthe rain. It is not exactly blind, welearned later, just nocturnal. Thatis, it cannot see in daytime. Acareless step would not have beenfatal. But if bitten, the victim willhave to be rushed to the hospitalimmediately. A tough task giventhe road, the rains and our ener-gy levels.

Four hours of walk and wereached the Bengali Basti calledShoalbay 19. A colony that wasformed fifty years back. They gotelectricity two months back. Wewere greeted by Dilip Dutta a res-ident of the basti for the last fortyyears. He asked us to come insidehis house and arranged plasticchairs for all. Good hot milk teagave us some extra optimism tocomplete the journey. Dilip hasjust bought a fridge and VCR afterthe arrival of electricity. Theywere watching some Hindi filmswhen we reached.

In spite of being denied basicmodern amenities, Dilip lookedhappy.

"Bahuth shanthi hai idar.." hesaid without any provoking fromour side. It is a place of peace. Andwhen he offered us lunch we did-n't know what to say? Is it fair toask this poor farm family to sharetheir modest meals with a groupof five urban holiday makers? Orwill they be happy to get someunusual guests in the midst of allthis solitude? Our modern mindcould not come to a conclusionand we hastily declined and con-tinued walking.

But the small basti had a won-der waiting for us. There is asmall primary school for studentsupto class five. One student inclass 1, two in class 2, one each inclass 3 and 4 and no student inclass five. For five students two

teachers, one with a double postgraduation, MPhil and PhD walkall this way every day to teachthem the basics of language,arithmetic and civics.

This really made us proud ofour country. This is the absolutemanifestation of what is definedin the country's constitution asthe Right to Education. But thenit looked a little surreal too.Erratic rains may not allow theteachers to visit the school everyday. And can there be more localsolutions to these problems?

What made the whole scenemore surreal was the four quota-tions above the assembly groundintended for these five primary-wallahs. It reads thus:

"Learning is process of pro-gressing behavior adoption" C.E.

Skinner."Personality is clothed in

habits, habits are garmet of soul"Klapper

"Environment is an externalforce which influences us"J.S.Ross

But the most favourite wasfrom one T.P.Nunn( whoever heis):

"Suggestion is the adoption ofanother person's ideas unwilledby oneself"

This made us really wonder.Who could have been the mostthoughtful administrator whofound these arcane thoughts anddecided to put in front of someimpressionable young minds liv-ing detached from the schemingmodern world, deep inside theforests? Whoever he is, he knows

the mind of the child, to be sure.We walked along and another

two hours in the open hot sunmade us really worn-out.Memories of the forgotten hotomelettes came back. In front ofthe weary eyes we saw a jack fruitcut in half as if it was just waitingfor us? Who said God appears infront of the hungry as food? Hereit is ripe fragrant jack fruit. But itis not our jack fruit and we cannoteat it.

"Let us walk upto Shoalbay 19and on the way back if it is stillthere, we will eat it" Zubair said.

Another one hour of walk.Along muddy waters and darkforests ending in an aloof beachwhere we splashed water and layin the cool sand.

By the time we came back to

the spot where we located thejack fruit it was two thirty. Andlook, the jack fruit is mostly wait-ing for us to be devoured thougha loitering goat has consumedpart of it.

The next scene is the crudemanifestation of the behavior ofany tired and hungry modernman when he sees food. No deco-rum nor hierarchy will standbefore it. We tore it apart withbare hands and ate it all. Like astone age gatherer. It is all in theblood and habits die hard.

On return journey Dilip Dutta'sdaughter met us. I have complet-ed Plus Two, said Rupali Dutta, asmart looking beautiful girl. Shewants some job in Port Blair.Educated, she doesn't share theenthusiasm of her father in stay-ing at a forlorn basti, how so everpeaceful it may be. Higher educa-tion brings higher levels of aspira-tion. And for her growth is mov-ing to the nearest city.

I have no moral right to criticizeher. Nor to convince her aboutthe futility of project modernity! Ihave at her age left my little vil-lage and went to the capital townto make a living. Looking back Idon't regret it. But I am not surewhat this girl is going to confrontand what job which I can conde-scendingly suggest to her. Shemay most probably end up aswhat we euphemistically call thegroup D service, that too in a tem-porary fashion. Life in a rentedshed with no good water or air.Life is never going to be any bet-ter. But she can at least hope forsome change. A hope that thingswill change forever.

If I tell her that this is all amirage, I will be blamed for glori-fying poverty. But can someonethink of a local alternative? Forexample why can't she be givensome basic training and put incharge of the five little students inthe primary school which is justaround the corner? Of course youdon't need a double post gradu-ate to teach them alphabets andnumbers. This will give her bettersocial status and a sense ofaccomplishment. The childrenwill also like it that way. Theirown Rupali didi coming as ateacher. Meanwhile she can con-tinue her studies and completeher graduation. She can get theproper job as a teacher.

But to whom can I suggest this?After all, suggestion is the adop-tion of another person's ideaunwilled by oneself, or whatevercrap that means!

Rupali also seems to be in ahurry. She was not excited aboutour advice to continue studiesand to get graduated. Life doesn'tstand still in Shoalbay 19 either.Television has already comealong with bright pictures of thelarge world outside. Rupali justwants to get out and engulf in theflamboyance outside.

We walked along and anothertwo hours in the open hot sunmade us really worn-out.Memories of the forgotten hotomelettes came back. In frontof the weary eyes we saw ajack fruit cut in half as if it wasjust waiting for us? Who saidGod appears in front of thehungry as food? Here it is ripefragrant jack fruit. But it is notour jack fruit and we cannoteat it.

A LONELYSCHOOL

11 |home|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

BYZUBAIR AHMED

Lack of knowledge about theirown territory has been a banefor the Islanders since

Independence. The school cur-riculum has vastly ignored the lifeand biodiversity of this Island ter-ritory. Our children are forced tostudy everything from generalknowledge, geography, historyand social sciences of the wholeworld except the Islands. Despiteour Islands gifted with moun-tains, sea, beaches, forests, plainsand even tribes not found any-where else, it's a paradox that allthese are not taught in ourschools.

Reading RC Mazumdar or MVPortman to know about theIslands is not everyone's cup oftea. Those interested in the colo-nial history or the tribes mighthave heard the names, whichdoes not excite anyone otherwise.

As a fillip, here is a journey toexplore some interesting facts and

ideas about our Magic Islands -Andaman and NicobarArchipelago with Zai Whitaker,grand niece of Salim Ali, who hasauthored some great gems likethe Andamans Boy, Kali and TheRat Snake and The RumblingIsland.

Magic Island, authored by ZaiWhitaker and published byNational Book Trust covers every-thing from the history, geography

and the wonderful life in ourarchipelago, a must read for everyIslander and mainlander, irre-spective of age, interested to knoweverything about the archipelago.

Zai Whitaker's relationship withthe Islands started almost 30years ago. The book is the result ofher encounter with the Islanderswho knew very little about thehistory of their home. There were

very few books about the Islandsexcept the old reports written byBritish officers before Indiabecame independent. Those wererather depressing all about thenaked savages in the jungles andthe punishment of thousands of

prisoners. She found little aboutthe unique cultures and ecosys-tems, and absolutely nothing forchildren.

The book tells us how blessedwe Islanders are with the unlimit-ed natural wealth in our backyardwith lovely views and landscapesof forest, open sky, ocean, Islandsand in fact all the things that a mil-lionaire craves to have.

Zai opens our minds towardsthe world of insects, birds, plants,reptiles, amphibians and mam-mals and the precious undis-turbed rainforests with the abun-dant biodiversity. It illustrates thefour-layer ecosystem that we havein the Islands - rainforest, man-grove, beach and reef.

From the term "junglees" usedby the so-called "civilized" people,she redefines the indigenoustribes as geniuses. The story ofJarawas and other tribes includ-ing the Nicobarese are told in avery fascinating manner. How anAndamanese woman Topsy had

Magic Islands: Don’t Miss Ithelped the British to tame thetribes is one exciting tale.

The history of the Islands withfocus on the pirates and pioneers,who reached the shores for differ-ent reasons and the Kalapanidays are vividly portrayed in thebook, beautifully illustrated byAmitava Sengupta.

The chapter on endemic andexotic species in the Islandsexplains why Cheetal and Mynahare bad for the Islands and theneed to protect the NicobariMegapode and NarcondumHornbills.

The book also draws our atten-tion towards the increasing popu-lation and decreasing resources,and the importance of sustain-able and environment-friendlyapproach in all developmentalactivities.

In fact this simple and lucidbook is the answer to the long-feltneed for a comprehensive text-book for our children, who havenothing to rely upon to knowabout their Islands. This is an aptbook, which can be introduced asa textbook in our schools, whichsurely will generate curiosity andinterest among the children toknow more about the magicIslands.

MAGIC ISLANDSBy Zai WhitakerPages: 107, Price: Rs 110National Book Trust, India 2012

BOOKREVIEW

12 |back|PAGE THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS, Port Blair 01 NOVEMBER 2012

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Abarricade near Mazaron Corbyn's Road anda few police personnel

stood there at around 9 PMof Saturday 20th October.One of them waived me tostop. Irritatingly I took mycar to the side. A person inKhaki, quite youngapproached and pleadinglyasked me to show my driv-ing license with a suffix of'Sir'. My ears could notbelieve the tone of the offi-cial. He noted my licensenumber, returned the sameand left me dumb with hissofter 'Thank you sir'.Another day on 21stOctober I was stopped at theentry of Chouldari village.The police official literary'requested' me to make anentry with the police officialwaiting at a make-shiftcounter at the road side. Theyoung lady police official inHindi wanted to know againwith a prefix of 'Sir', whetherI was carrying my drivinglicense. The tone was as if itwas not a crime to drivewithout license. I producedthe same and she smilinglyreturned it back after anendorsement. She did notforget to throw a 'Thanks'.

The same day I was

stopped at IP&T-Air IndiaOffice junction and wasdenied to go straight fromSecretariat to Rajniwas sideas I had to go to Shadipur bya police personnel. It was adeclared one-way forsmooth movement of trafficbut I had to cross hardly 100meter to take a right turn ona common road. And thistime the tall built Dy. SP(Traffic) himself came to mycar, bowed his head to mycar-window and said, 'sir,this is one way and pleasetake a bit longer route. Thisis for the cause of smootherways for many others too.Please bear with us'.

Unbelievable? But believeit. Not a shocking but apleasant experience. In aplace where within a radiusof 5-6 KM, 12-14 Puja-pan-dals existed with minimalpossible road diversions, thePolice could truly managethe situation splendidlymore with their politenessthan their skill, I trust. In ourcountry, a personnel inKhaki will behave polite is acommon man's dream butduring these Puja days, theAndaman and NicobarPolice did it. Kudos!

MMuussaaffiirr

Police Polite: Yes, Believe it

CHALTE | CHALTE ON | CAMERA

BACK | BITE

SS CHOLUNGA: Once a lifeline connecting Port Blair to Middle and North Andamans. Story on Page 8

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