Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 28 December 2023
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Port Blair Area Committee launched an extensive door-to-door campaign and held corner meetings in the Dairy Farm and Ranchi Basthi areas on December 27th and 28th, 2023. The initiatives aimed to address pressing concerns faced by the residents, spotlighting issues ranging from power shortages to escalating prices and unemployment.
During these campaigns, several critical challenges were brought to the forefront, including frequent power cuts, soaring inflation, rising unemployment rates, instances of corruption, and the scarcity of essential construction materials like stone chips and metals.
At a corner meeting held on December 27th at Dairy Farm, D. Ayyappan, Secretary of CPI (M) A & N State Organising Committee, highlighted the compounding problems faced by islanders, attributing them to the aggressive pursuit of neo-liberal policies by the BJP-led central government over the past 9 ½ years. Ayyappan emphasized that despite one lakh unemployed youth registered with the local Employment Exchange, job opportunities remained elusive. He criticized the lack of vision from ruling parties and elected representatives in fostering the development of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, citing the recent water crisis that saw residents of Port Blair receiving drinking water only once every ten days, even 76 years after independence.
D. Laxman Rao, State Secretariat Member of the party, further elucidated the failures of the BJP-led Port Blair Municipal Council, citing inadequate repairs of footpaths, the deplorable condition of urban roads, and the scarcity of potable water in numerous areas.
Blaming the central government for the recurring power cuts in the islands, SP Kalairajan, State Organising Committee Member of the Party, highlighted the adverse effects of this issue on the residents.
Key members of the CPI (M) Port Blair Area Committee, including NKP Nair and KG Samkutty, also addressed separate corner meetings in different locales, intensifying the focus on these crucial concerns faced by the islanders.