John Wilbert &Vikramaditya
Port Blair, Mar 29: After a year of discontinuing the supply of free ration items to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) Great Andamanese living in Strait Island, the Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Mr. Keshav Chandra, has brought some hopes to the tribal population. A good number of Great Andamanese people, who belong to the PVTG, reside in the Strait Island, Middle Andaman.
According to reports, earlier the Andaman and Nicobar Administration provided free ration items on a monthly basis, which included 7 kg of rice and atta, one liter of cooking oil, half kg of sugar etc per head for every individual of Great Andamanese via AAJVS.
However, last year, the AAJVS suddenly stopped providing ration items to the families of government servants and their dependent family members, causing severe hardship for the people. With the unavailability of ration items, they were compelled to rely on hunting animals for food. Rani Surmae, Chief of Great Andamanese people, told Andaman Sheekha Daily that they suffered a lot due to this decision.
Therefore, the Great Andamanese people living in Strait Island requested the Andaman administration and the Chief Secretary to intervene in the matter and provide continuous free ration items to all tribal people of Great Andamanese.
Upon being contacted, a senior officer of Tribal Welfare informed the Andaman Sheekha Daily that the Chief Secretary visited Strait Island two weeks back, where the tribal people highlighted the problem before him. Immediately, the Chief Secretary directed AAJVS to start necessary arrangements for providing ration items to all the Great Andamanese people, except government servants. Furthermore, the officer assured Andaman Sheekha that free ration items will be provided to the tribal population from next month onwards. This decision by the Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, has brought a great deal of hope for the tribal people living in Strait Island.
