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Around 400 km west of Malabar coast lies the Lakshadweep archipelago. It is just a group of 36 atoll and coral islands with an area of 32 sq. km however its strategic importance for India can’t be undermined. It gives India access to strategically important islands of North Indian Ocean and Africa, and lies in the trade route of Gulf to South East Asia.
There hasn’t been as many efforts by the Government of India to develop Lakshadweep as have been with Andaman and Nicobar islands. However, the union territory still upholds very high social development indicators with an average literacy rate of 91.85% and population growth rate of around 6% per decade (2011 census). The crime rate as per NCRB data is also one of the lowest among Indian states and UTs with only 86 FIRs last year in a population of over 64 thousand people.
In last few days, however the UT and its administration has been in the news for wrong reasons. The way in which latest draft acts on the subjects like land acquisition, law and order, etc. are being pushed hastily has created distrust among the island community. The reason cited by the administration is development of Lakshadweep on the lines of Maldives. While it is good to be aspirational, it has to be understood that any development activity can be successful only with the people participation.
The Draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 provides several provisions for the development of townships, acquisition, alteration, and transfer of the landed properties owned by the island residents. But all of this requires land acquisition which has been a highly contested issue.
The popular opinion among the people is that it is being done under the pressure of real estate lobby. The way ordinances have been pushed through under Modi-2.0 without much consultations is a cause of worry among the entire democratic society. People are fearful of forcible relocation and eviction citing the Coastal Regulation zones, definition of which may be inappropriate for these islands since many of these islands are hardly a kilo metre in width.
It is also the symbiotic relation of the island population with its ecology that is bound to get disturbed with this regulation. We are amidst a pandemic which is believed to have zoonotic origins. The forest cover of Lakshadweep is 90.33%, which might also become a source of novel zoonotic transmissions if these forests are indiscriminately exploited.
The next issue of Prevention of Anti Social Activities Bill or Goonda Act, that allows for detention of anybody without even disclosure of the charges for up-to 1 year, further aggravates the fear of the malafide intentions of the administration.
Another regulation called the Animal Preservation regulation though explicitly doesn’t talk about beef ban but makes animal husbandry a subject of strict state control, indirectly interpreted as a way to police beef slaughter. Same goes about the fourth regulation allowing liquor sale.
In my opinion, India being a positively secular nation state needs to separate the eating and drinking habits of people from the ambit of state regulations. Maldives, which is an essentially conservative Islamic country also doesn’t pose any ban on alcohol and pork sale.
The last regulation makes people having more than 2 children, ineligible to contest the Panchayat elections, post the cut-off date. This to me doesn’t seem to be too big a concern as many other states already have such regulations in place and these regulations anyway don’t apply retrospectively.
While these regulations are being considered a Hindutava push in the island having 96% Muslim population. But it is a complex debate best left to political pundits. My opinion as a common citizen and an aspiring civil servant is the concern towards flouting of the democratic processes.
Development, no doubt is a necessity for Lakshadweep today but we should reflect on our recent experiences of pandemic, farmers bills, Uttarakhand floods, etc., to understand that development is sustainable only if it is inclusive with all stakeholders being part of it. The success story of Maldives lies in its citizen participation to develop it as one of the top tourist destination in Asia. These bills should be put up for public review and consensus building must take place among all the sections of civil society.
As we talk, ‘Save Lakshadweep’ campaign has gathered support from sections of the society and the smoke has reached the tall echo chambers of Home Ministry. Informal assurance by the home minister is certainly a good indication, which should be made formal. Emulating a particular model may not necessarily lead to developmental success as experience around the world teaches us. It is thus the time that we let Lakshadweep be Lakshadweep and not try to make it some place which it is not.
-Kshitij Tiwari
Curable Covid patient’s death in hospital fires accentuated country’s dilapidated safety management. India’s safety management has miserably failed during all natural and un-natural disasters. Even the deaths of fellow citizens could neither improve the safety awareness of the administration nor the people. After every unfortunate incident, there is anguish in the society against the government, and the related authorities. The standard response includes enquiry commission and/ or ex-gratia to the victims.
The unplanned patchwork response for the incident fades over the time. There is an urgent need to plan for integrating safety in our social lifestyle. Our safety awareness has always been downplayed by conventional pedagogy. To start with, we need to mold our younger population with formal safety awareness and training programs.
Fire hydrants installed in residential or commercial complexes in our concrete jungles deprave our overall safety awareness, training, and attitude. They are often not operational and/ or hardly have any properly trained user. Fire safety incidents in India are largely fatal but are just the tip of iceberg for the problem.
Many other forms of accidental deaths remain unanswered, due to unnoticed root cause. How about neighborhood we live in? All major Indian cities have roads strangled with undisciplined, irregular, and unsafe wires/ cables. In fact, these shabby neighborhood wires make our homes and workplaces wireless! They not only make the cities ugly, but also unsafe. Cluttered wire installations in the neighborhood have caused numerous road accidents leading to serious injuries and deaths.
Unsafe installation of high voltage electric cables has significantly contributed to electrocution deaths. Unsafe commute by public and private transportation need no elaboration. Road safety is everyday breaching new depths of mess. The list of unsafe environment and actions in the society is endless, and sadly our routine.
During my stay in the US, I was amazed to witness my son performing a fire evacuation mock drill. This happened at very first week of his pre-school! Plausibly such mock drills at early age, become dawning steps of safety lifestyle in the western world. Additional safety training in an academic setup can bring phenomenal change in safety attitude. It is unfortunate that in India we do not have safety even as optional subject in academics!
It should be noted that safety awareness for a society needs three generations to percolate as its integral lifestyle.
Why three generations? Consider a father paying fine to a cop for not wearing seatbelt while driving car. The child unknowingly witnesses father unwillingly wearing safety seatbelt, just to avoid the fine. When this child grows up and drive, remembers the pain for not using seatbelt in the car. Soon the seatbelt becomes his routine (although unwanted!) for driving. The next generation, that is the grandchild often observes natural use of seatbelt while driving. Thus, seatbelt becomes suo motu action for this third generation while driving! This is integrating safety in the lifestyle in the third generation. Hence it is paramount to introduce general safety awareness and training in early education. With this basics, professional safety hazards training can be easily enhanced.
Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 is one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. To date, this tragedy has more questions than answers. However, there are a few unsung heroes from the Indian railways from Bhopal station, that helped save hundreds of people traveling.1 Maybe these heroes did not have a formal safety education, but they used a vital tool required during the disaster, their Brain! At times, we need to inculcate our Brain to think and act during a disaster. A formal safety awareness training to the employees and community could have saved many more lives on that unfortunate day.
Since then, industrial safety in India has improved witnessing near miss and incidents. But the pace of the safety awareness and training in industry is still lagging the required momentum. Of late, many industries have realized to invest in safety to avoid consequent bane. Safety is now one of the core values for reputed industries in India. This is a light through the tunnel, although the tunnel is long! Organizations now have proper methods formulated to upskill its employees about related work hazards. Such upskill would be efficient for employees with integral general safety consciousness during their formal education.
Government of India has recently formalized country’s New Education Policy (NEP). Coincidently earlier education policy was formulated in 1986, just two years after Bhopal gas tragedy. It is still not too late for the country to include innovative methods for safety awareness and training in this NEP. Inefficacious infrastructure or financial problems are not hurdles for any government in this task. However, lack of commitment and ignorance is definitely a hurdle!
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. – Benjamin Franklin
-Dr. Rahul Shripad Nandurdikar
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.