Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 28 July 2025
While authorities healthcare establishments in South Andaman and North & Middle Andaman districts are making provisions to serve nutritious and balanced meals to in-patients, sufferers within the distant islands of Great Nicobar and Nancowry proceed to be disadvantaged of this primary necessity.
At PHC Campbell Bay in Great Nicobar, inpatients are sometimes served solely rice and dal — a food regimen grossly insufficient for these recovering from sickness. In the Nancowry group, whereas the menu consists of rice, dal, legumes, and soya chunks, there’s a full absence of greens, eggs, poultry, fish, and fruits — all of that are important for a balanced food regimen.
This persistent disparity has sparked concern and frustration amongst native residents, tribal leaders, and political representatives, who’ve repeatedly appealed to the Andaman and Nicobar Administration to handle the problem. Despite these efforts, the scenario stays unchanged.
In distinction, different districts within the Union Territory have seen clear administrative efforts to make sure the dietary wants of sufferers are met. Recently, tenders had been floated by way of the e-procurement portal for the availability of ration gadgets to not less than two healthcare establishments in North and Middle Andaman.
Similarly, in South Andaman, the Directorate of Health Services issued Order No. 2389 dated eleventh July 2025 to the District Hospital Garacharma and eight different PHCs. The order acknowledged that the tender course of for moist ration provide had not been finalized resulting from administrative causes. However, it allowed for interim procurement of moist ration for a interval of three months, by invoking Rule 154 or 155 of the General Financial Rules (GFR), 2017 — guaranteeing that affected person meals wouldn’t be disrupted.
This raises a urgent query: if such administrative flexibility and urgency may be utilized in South Andaman, why is similar not prolonged to well being establishments within the Nicobar District? Why are sufferers in Great Nicobar and Nancowry not afforded the identical dignity and care as their counterparts in different areas?
Sources in each Great Nicobar and Nancowry confirmed to Nicobar Times that no such orders or info concerning tenders have been obtained for his or her areas.
This stark regional disparity in healthcare provisioning displays a deeper concern of neglect and administrative apathy towards distant island communities. Nutritious meals will not be a privilege — it’s a proper, particularly for these below medical care.
Unless the administration takes swift and decisive motion, the sufferers of Great Nicobar and Nancowry will proceed to battle not simply sickness, but additionally systemic indifference.
