Sri Vijaya Puram, Oct. 31: Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has written to the Hon’ble Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah and the Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, urging the Government to conduct a re-survey and issue Islander Cards to all left-out genuine islanders who were inadvertently excluded during the previous survey.
In his representation, Shri Ray highlighted that a large number of genuine islanders including settlers and long-term residents are facing severe hardship due to non-availability of Islander Cards. The absence of these cards has deprived them of several welfare benefits and concessions such as ship and helicopter fare subsidies, financial assistance under government schemes, and eligibility for bank loans, among others.
The Islander Card serves as a crucial document to establish the identity and entitlement of permanent residents of the Islands. However, despite possessing valid proof of long-term residence and meeting all prescribed eligibility criteria, many genuine islanders were left out of the earlier enumeration. Shri Ray pointed out that several individuals and families could not be covered during the door-to-door survey as they were temporarily away from the Islands for medical treatment, education, domestic needs, or short-term employment.
He further observed that in numerous cases, members of the same family have been inconsistently treated with some receiving Islander Cards while others were excluded. For example, in several households, fathers and children hold valid cards whereas mothers were left out merely because they were away during the survey period for medical or family reasons. Such inconsistencies, Shri Ray noted, have caused distress and discrimination among genuine islander families.
In light of these issues, Shri Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble MP has requested the Government of India and the A&N Administration to undertake a comprehensive re-survey to identify and include all left-out genuine islanders in the official list and to issue Islander Cards to them at the earliest. This, he emphasized, would ensure justice and equal entitlement for all genuine inhabitants of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.