Congress leader Venugopal writes to President, seeks recall of Lakshadweep Administrator

Congress has written to President Ram Nath Kovind alleging that the current Administrator of Lakshadweep Praful Patel had taken "authoritarian measures" and demanded his recall.

In a letter written to the President, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said on Tuesday that there is apprehension among the people of Lakshadweep and resultant widespread protests "owing to the authoritarian measures taken by the current Administrator Praful Patel".

Venugopal alleged that Patel, who was appointed as the Administrator of the UT of Lakshadweep on December 2, 2020, has "unilaterally imposed" a series of measures that have "caused immense disturbance and disquiet in the livelihood and the unique culture" of the islands.

"This includes the curtailment of the powers of democratically elected district panchayats and unilaterally taking over their power. As per the reports, hundreds of contract labourers working under different departments have been terminated from service until now. It is also alleged that the current Administration is imposing restrictions on the traditional food habits, apart from lifting the restriction on the consumption of alcohol which has been put in place due to religious and cultural reasons," the letter said.

Venugopal said fishing is the main source of income of the people in Lakshadweep and certain exemptions were given for constructing sheds to keep nets and equipments.

"Unfortunately, it was reported that citing the violation of Coast Guard Act, the current Administrator ordered the demolition of these sheds without citing any reasons causing huge financial loss to the poor fishermen. Lakshadweep has strong cultural and historical ties with Kerala since centuries and islanders since decades have been depending on the Beypore port for freight transit.

"Shockingly, the current administration is urging the citizen to shift to Manglore port for this purpose. It is alleged that the decision is aimed at severing the age old cultural ties with Kerala," the letter said.

Venugopal said the local people fear that all these "unilateral and anti-people decisions" would ultimately lead to the destruction of traditional livelihood and unique culture of Lakshadweep".

"This has created huge unrest and protest among the local population.I would humbly request you to intervene in this matter and urgently ensure the recall of the current Administrator of the UT of Lakshadweep and withdraw orders issued and promulgated under his tenure," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )

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