The Hindu : `People in Lakshadweep want a change'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 01, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

`People in Lakshadweep want a change'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, MARCH 31. The Janata Dal (United) candidate for the Lok Sabha elections, P. Pookunhi Koya, hopes to win the Lakshadweep Lok Sabha constituency seat, which is a traditional stronghold of the Congress. Addressing a press conference, Dr. Koya, a doctor who has served the islands for many years, said that the constituency had been poorly nurtured. The people in general and the youth in particular, were yearning for a change in the constituency which had been consecutively held by P.M. Sayeed, Deputy Speaker of the dissolved Lok Sabha, he said.

While the general elections in the islands were won by narrow margins, the party had gained a lot of confidence from the fact that it had won the polls in five out of 10 panchayats in the latest round of elections to the local bodies. Lack of development was the key issue in the forthcoming elections, according to him.

Unemployment had become a serious problem, as the potential of the islands had not been exploited. There were no proper efforts for value addition in copra and fish, abundantly available in the islands, which had a bearing on the job scenario. Tourism projects such as scuba diving were not taken up in right earnest, he said.

Narrating the problems faced by the people, he said the restriction on building activities in the coastal areas as per the CRZ laws had adversely affected them as several islands had only narrow stretches of land. The process of giving pattas to the islanders were at a standstill. The victims of police firing in Androth island in 1990 were yet to get compensation, he said.

Though the island had a well-equipped hospital, there was not enough staff. Moreover, it did not have a gynaecologist. This had forced the islanders to come to the mainland for treatment. But this posed another problem as the Scheduled Tribe status was bestowed only on those who were born in the islands and whose parents stayed in the islands. Answering a question, he said that the possibility of a Janata Party candidate in the fray would not affect the prospects of the JD(U).

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