PORT BLAIR: Regional political party, the Jan Kranti Party, has demanded 15 per cent reservation for Andaman-born people in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
In a letter addressed to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the president of Jan Kranti Party, K Venkat Ram Babu, has pointed out that a majority of the population --which is approximately more than 50 per cent-- are of the ‘10 years category’ (living in the Andamans for more than 10 years). Those of the general category are born in these islands and are deprived of higher education, government jobs and other facilities.
Talking about reservation for tribals, pre-42 and settler communities, Ram recommended that those born in the Andamans should also be given 15 per cent reservation like others. People from the tribal community enjoy maximum reservation followed by people from pre-42 category (descendents of people who arrived before 1942).
Other than this, people who settled in the Andamans under different colonisation schemes, called settlers, enjoy some reservation.
“People who are born in the Andamans but do not belong to tribal, pre-42 or settler category suffer the most. JKP strongly demands 15 per cent reservation for Andaman borns,” said Ram Babu.