Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 31 October 2025
Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, has written to the Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah, and the Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, urging the administration to conduct a re-survey and subject Islander Cards to all real residents who have been inadvertently excluded through the earlier survey.
In his illustration, Mr. Ray identified that numerous real islanders, together with settlers and long-term residents, are dealing with extreme hardship because of the non-availability of Islander Cards. The absence of those playing cards, he famous, has disadvantaged many households of essential welfare advantages and concessions reminiscent of backed ship and helicopter fares, monetary help underneath numerous authorities schemes, and eligibility for financial institution loans.
Highlighting the significance of the Islander Card as a key doc establishing the identification and entitlements of everlasting residents, the MP said that regardless of possessing legitimate proof of long-term residence and fulfilling all eligibility norms, many real residents have been neglected through the earlier enumeration. He noticed that a number of people and households missed inclusion as they have been briefly away from the Islands for medical therapy, schooling, home obligations, or short-term employment.
Mr. Ray additionally emphasised inconsistencies throughout the similar households, the place some members have been issued Islander Cards whereas others weren’t. In a number of such instances, he stated, fathers and kids maintain legitimate playing cards, whereas moms have been excluded merely as a result of they have been away through the survey interval. These discrepancies, he added, have triggered misery and discrimination amongst real islander households.
Urging instant motion, Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray appealed to the Government of India and the A&N Administration to undertake a complete re-survey to determine and embody all left-out real islanders and to subject them Islander Cards on the earliest. This, he asserted, would guarantee justice, equity, and equal entitlement for all bona fide inhabitants of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
