Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 16 February 2025
Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, has made an pressing attraction to Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah, in search of satisfactory compensation for farmers whose lands had been submerged within the 2004 Tsunami. The attraction is predicated on the suggestions of the Vivek Rae Committee, constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2017 to look at land issues within the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The committee, chaired by retired IAS officer Mr. Vivek Rae, was tasked with reviewing vital land-related points, together with compensation for tsunami-affected farmers, the adequacy of earlier aid funds, and the regularization of extra land occupied by settlers earlier than 1961. Despite submitting its complete report, the committee’s suggestions stay unimplemented, leaving affected farmers in extended misery.
Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray emphasised that the committee’s findings clearly said that the compensation beforehand supplied to farmers was grossly insufficient and really helpful enhanced funds. However, even twenty years after the catastrophe, the affected farmers proceed to attend for justice, with many having handed away with out receiving any aid.
The MP additional identified that whereas a few of the submerged lands have been naturally reclaimed, further restoration is feasible by easy engineering interventions resembling sluice gates and bunds. Yet, bureaucratic delays and administrative inaction have extended the struggling of those farmers, he lamented.
Additionally, Mr. Ray underscored the committee’s advice to regularize extra land occupied by pre-1961 settlers. He famous that this choice ought to have been carried out with out additional session, because it aligns with ideas of equity and fairness.
Expressing deep concern over the long-pending difficulty, Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray said, “These farmers lost their lands due to a natural disaster beyond their control. The government must act now to provide long-overdue relief and uphold justice. Further delays will only compound their suffering.”
In gentle of this, the MP has urged the Home Ministry to expedite the session course of, implement the committee’s suggestions, and be sure that the affected farmers obtain the compensation they rightfully deserve.
