Sri Vijaya Puram, Apr. 28:The two-day A&N Conference, SANGITI-2025 (Survey of Andaman & Nicobar Governance Initiatives for Transformative Islands) got underway at DBRAIT today. Organized by A&N Administration, the Conference was inaugurated by Admiral D K Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.), Hon’ble Lt. Governor, A&N Islands & Vice Chairman, Islands Development Agency by lighting the traditional oil lamp in the presence of Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, IAS, Guest Speakers from NITI Aayog, Senior Officers of Defence & Civil Administration, Tourism Stakeholders and others. The session commenced by observing with a two-minute silence to pay tributes to those who lost their lives in the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Lt. Governor said that conceptualization of this forum – open ended discussions involving stakeholders from different fields is a path breaking initiative of A&N Administration and its desired objective is for the attainment of the ‘Viksit Bharat Vision’ of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi by 2047 as also our march towards 5 trillion plus economy and what the UT’s contribution can be in this direction.
The Lt. Governor remarked that the UT Administration is committed to implement various socio-economic schemes including the Flagship Schemes effectively to trigger the overall development of the Island economy. He said, the UT Administration envisages to have a good quality of life thereby ensuring ‘Ease of Business’, ‘Ease of Living’ initiatives, provision of Power, drinkable water, Health Care for individuals and the Administration has done reasonably well to enable a society which is vibrant, culturally rich and harmonious.
Unlike mainland India, the UT Administration has successfully implemented various schemes of Central Government and remained as Table Topper in many of the nation-wide evaluation process done by various agencies from time to time and in most of the social indicators while out performing many States and UTs and also better ranked as compared to the National average. The UT of A&N Islands was felicitated as the “Top Achiever in Two Citizen Centric Reform Areas” in Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP)”. The Islands secured the top position in the 1st and 3rd Rozgar Melas by issuing the highest number of appointment letters. He said, 5000 unfilled vacancies were filled in a span of two years. Further, among all the UTs, and in the States of the Country, A&N Islands stood first as the first Swachh Sujal UT of the Country.
The Lt. Governor said that many transformational infrastructure projects have been taken up with the setting up of the ‘Islands Development Agency’ in the month of June, 2017. Many of the visionary & transformational projects have been completed viz. Optical Fiber Cable (OFC), Bridge on Humfrey Strait, New Airport Terminal Building etc. The Lt. Governor further mentioned that codal formalities have been completed or at various stages of completion in a vast number of infrastructure projects. The Lt. Governor said that with a vision to develop the Islands, the UT Administration has been pushing many major projects to have a total shift in the development trajectory of the Islands for the past few years.
The Lt. Governor pointed out the necessity for development of the A&N Islands as a premier scuba diving destination in the Indian Ocean Region, with the aim of attempting several underwater Guinness World Records.
The Lt. Governor also underscored the importance of ensuring a safe environment for tourists, particularly in light of the Pahalgam incident.
The Lt. Governor concluded his speech by mentioning that the outcome of the deliberations will help in bringing transformative changes in the overall development of the Island territory focusing on the pressing needs of this territory and leveraging the most promising available opportunities.
The Lt. Governor also launched the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Tourism App and released Tourism Activity Calendar. He also virtually inaugurated the ‘Roof Top Solar Power Plants’ installed in Government buildings and launched DAKSHATA programme on the occasion.
In his address, the Chief Secretary, A&N Administration informed that during the Chief Secretaries conference held in December, the Prime Minister has asked to organize similar kind of conference in States & UTs so that more engagements happen in ground levels and this conference is a continuation in that direction. The purpose of organizing this conference is to give meaningful engagements to ourselves so that we have a very clear-cut purposes to various themes & various issues regarding development. He said, this conference has been devised in 7 broad themes such as 1. Tourism, 2. Biodiversity, 3. Mobility, 4. Energy, 5. Strategic Security, 6. (A). Water, 6. (B). Circular economy, 7. (A)Production Economic- Agriculture, 7. (B) Production Economic-Fisheries. The two-days deliberations will surely help in preparing a roadmap particularly for the financial year-2025-2026 and planning for the future, the CS added.
Earlier, the Commissioner, A&N Administration, Shri ASPS Raviprakash, IAS, welcomed the gathering. The inaugural function concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by the Secretary (Planning), Dr. Aman Gupta, IAS.
The conference has been devised in 7 broad themes. Today, the speakers deliberated on themes such as Tourism, biodiversity, mobility and energy.
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