Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

Will the workers 13 years wait for settlement of VRS dues meet its logical end? Perhaps how the I sland A dministration responds to the decree would decide what the answer be. Those who followed my earlier post on the issue might be aware more than 800 workers of the erstwhile M/S A ndaman T imber I ndustries L td (popularly known as ATI ) have not been paid retirement and statutory dues admissible to them since the factory closed in the fall of 2000 . Estranged workers raised the issue in every available forum. Even a favourable L abour C ourt A ward was not honoured. This article traces the issue that has been hanging fire for more than 13 years.   Factory's two of the three sheds collapsed on 26 Dec 2004 due to the Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake M/S A ndaman T imber I ndustries L imited had its P lywood manufacturing factory at S hore P oint V illage near B ambooflat J etty in S outh A ndaman. The factory started sometime in the early 60’s with a modest t...

Demand to protect interest of local candidates in jobs gaining relevance and momentum in the wake of visit of Hon’ble President of India By Debkumar Bhadra Separation of the A ndaman and N icobar I slands from mainland I ndia by vast expanse of sea led the islands to develop into a treasure trove of biodiversity with a very high degree of endemism. To protect this unique biological wealth, 86 % (7170.69 sqkm) of the total land area ( 8249 sqkm) of the islands has been classified as R eserved and or P rotected F orests . If deemed forests are taken into consideration, approximately 94% falls under one or the other kind of protection regimen, leaving very little for civilian use. However in consonance with strategic view point, the islands have been populated under various Rehabilitation and Colonisation schemes of Govt of India. Later a good number of families from mainland India migrated to these islands in search of employment and ended up adding to the existing populati...

A VACCANCY NOTIFICATION THAT COULD LEAVE LOCAL CANDIDATES HIGH AND DRY AMID RAINING JOBS A large section of local job aspirants feel deprived since certain clause prohibits them from taking part in the recruitment process  The Directorate of Education A&N A dministration vide recruitment notice published in the official mouthpiece invited applications to fill up a total of 422 teaching posts at the PGT, GTT and PST level. The endeavour received appreciation from the MP of the islands and a few others but not without caveats. The notification however came as a rude shock to the local job aspirants. The reasons are compelling and more than one . CTET compulsory, Posts open to all According to a rough estimate there are not more than 80-85 CTET passed local candidates available in the fray. Therefore by prescribing pass in CTET compulsory, the notification rendered a large number of otherwise qualified local candidates ineligible to participate in the recruitment...