Lakshadweep Top Ex-Bureaucrats Write To PM: "Disturbing Developments"

A photo of protests in Lakshadweep against the new regulations. Photo Credit – PTI

Since the debate over the proposed reforms in Lakshadweep heats up, 93 former civil servants have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to voice their concerns regarding the situation in the union territory.

They wrote a letter to the prime minister to implement an effective development model in conjunction with islanders, emphasising access to safe and secure education and also just administration.

According to the letter, "We write to you today to express our grave worry over unsettling changes taking place in the pristine Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep in the guise of 'development."

under the aegis of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), Former public employees noted in the letter, "These draughts have been issued without local participation and are now with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government of India for appropriate permissions."

Former civil officials also emphasised the importance of a full-time, people-oriented, and responsive UT administrator, as well as an adequate development strategy.

"We strongly advise that these measures be revoked immediately, that UT be given a full-time, people-sensitive, and responsive Administrator, and that an appropriate development model be put in place, in consultation with islanders, that emphasises access to safe and secure healthcare, education, just governance, food security, and livelihood options linked to ecosystem," the letter says.

Changes proposed in Lakshadweep

Praful Patel, the administrator of the Lakshadweep Islands, has recommended a ban on cow slaughter, a two-child rule for individuals seeking to run for gram panchayat elections, and the serving of booze at resorts on inhabited islands. Notably, the vast majority of the people that live on the islands are Muslims.

The draught Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR), which aims to oversee the development of towns on the islands with sweeping changes in the way land can be acquired and used, as well as the draught Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation, which provides for powers to detain a person for up to one year without legal representation, have sparked controversy.