Port Blair, July 8: The PCC President, Shri Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested the Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to consider conferring special powers to the Lt Governor of A&N Islands to select MBBS Doctors and all Gazetted direct recruits from the local candidates.

In his letter Sharma stated that due to non availability of Medical College in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Central Government as well as the State Governments are considering some quota of seats of MBBS, Engineering at various Universities/ colleges at Mainland to the A&N Administration for the eligible students of these islands. After screening, the Administration is allowing such seats to the local students and also bearing heavy expenditure on each such students after getting a bond executed that these pass outs will serve the islands for five years.

Sharma also pointed out that after getting the Degrees, students come back to Port Blair to get suitable jobs under the A&N Administration but as per the prevailing rules, to get the job they have to come out successfully by competing the candidates of mainland through the interviews conducted by UPSC. 

All these pass outs are fresher’s but on the other hand their counterparts of mainland by that time have gathered considerable experience in various private establishments and come out successfully by defeating our local candidates in the interviews. As a result, at one hand, unemployment problem is increasing in these islands and on the other hand most of those local pass outs for which the A&N Administration has spent huge amount on their studies, make their future in mainland based establishments since they are denied selection by the UPSC.

Under the circumstances, Sharma has requested the Prime Minister to consider special powers to the Lt Governor of the islands to select the Doctors and Engineers, Assistant professors and also such Gazetted direct recruits etc. from the local aspirants to fill up the vacancies or to consider an UPSC (ANI) for recruiting the local candidates in those posts.