Life of common man at Andaman and Nicobar Islands

There are many misconceptions about the type of Human race (s) residing in this Islands. Thanks to the TV Channels and other national media who had repeatedly iin past broadcast nice documentaries on the Aboriginal tribes of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Those commentaries collectively contributed to the confusion among fellow human beings residing elsewhere in the world. Few people even still think that since Andaman is part of India it should be possible to travel to this place by Train!

Who live here in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Most of the convicts who were sent from Mainland India to these Islands during the British occupation, never returned back to their home. Probably because no home actually was left for them back in the Indian mainland. The Govt. ( British) from 1926 onwards started providing land to 'The Convicts' and this policy helped in the colonisation of this Islands. A small population of Govt. servants & small traders also arrived to the Islands during British era to support the life at Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The major inflow of population was during 1954 with the resettlement of Refugees from East Bengal (Bangaladesh) and Srilanka.

Later during 1953 AD (and few during 1949-52) refugees living at various refugee camps in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh were encouraged to come to these Islands, where the Indian Government readily provided free of cost land for dwelling and farming. The settlement costed the GOI (Govt. of India) around INR 2000 for each family those days. More detailed information is available in our Population Settlement Information section. Government job is still much coveted in these Islands and there are about 38,000 of them in these Islands.

The tribal population was living elsewhere in the Islands away from the normal dwellings ever since British occupied Andaman Islands.

The Indian government recognizing this place as a strategic defence position kept strengthening the Military, Navy, Air force and Coast Guard establishments. A sizeable ex-servicemen families were also allotted land in this Islands in Campbell Bay i.e. the southernmost tip of India.

Present Life :

The population according to 2011 census is 3,80,581 (including all the islands). As the early torch-bearers of the population at Andaman & Nicobar were british political prisoners (freedom fighters) and convicts - various social division based on caste, religion, creed, language, region etc. is totally non existent. This fact makes Andaman Nicobar Islands the only place rightly to be described as "real and Mini-India". The life is simple in these Islands, and people usually earn well to cope up with the high cost of living. Government policies for the below mentioned has offered some respite from higher cost of living:
1. Cheaper Fuels: Petrol , Diesel and LPG prices are lower as compared to Mainland India.
2. Cheaper Vehicles: An average car costs around 50 thousand Rupees cheaper than Mainland India due to low taxes and the policy of collecting yearly road taxes.
3. Free Healthcare: 100 % free health facilities and medications at all the Govt. Hospitals.
4. Subsidized Cost of transport: The cost of tickets for Ship , Helicopter and intra-island transportation is lesser than Non-Residents.

There are not much avenues to spend money for the localities - the habit of eating out and partying is still not common, There is hardly any night life in Andamans [No pubs, No discos :-)] and after 9.30 pm the streets are deserted. Family gatherings and picnics are high on weekend agenda.

Overall these practices have helped the community to come closer. Unlike the cities elsewhere, people in Andaman and Nicobar tend to know almost everybody they come across in everyday life. The people do not visit Mainland India usually unless they are compelled to do so - very few actually visit for sightseeing tours! The visit to Mainland India for the localities is limited either to their native states (if they still have relatives there) or for treatment in speciality hospitals in Chennai.

The language for communication among the masses is Hindi (Andaman Hindi). Other languages / mother tongues are confined to the homes and community gathering. Major Languages spoken are Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Nicobari and English.

There is only 1 Lok Sabha (MP) Seat for the whole Andaman & Nicobar Islands .

Education at Andaman & Nicobar

The literacy rate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is around 90.27%. As per 2015 records, more than 90000 students were enrolled in various schools and colleges in the Islands. There is no state board in these Islands and all schools are affiliated to CBSE ( Central Board of Secondary Education ).

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Health Services at Andaman and Nicobar Islands

There are 3 Secondary care Hospital, 4 Community Health Centres, 21 Primary Health Centres , 5 Urban Health Centres, 102 Primary Health Sub Centres and 8 Dispensaries for common public. There are 285 Doctors in the government sector. Super specialty facilities like Neurology, Urology, Gastroenterology etc is negligible (or non existent) at Andaman & Nicobar Islands. There is a set up of telemedicine at GB Pant Hospital which is intended to seek expert guidance and continued medical education from Apollo Hospital & Ramachandra Medical College at Chennai. The telemedicine network is established under the guidance of ISRO, which uses INSAT 3B directly to connect the hospitals. In practice these tele-medicine network have by far proved to be less worthy than the hype it has maintained. | More about healthcare at Andaman Nicobar |
The super specialty cases are referred to notified Hospitals at Chennai and Kolkata.

Cultivation

The only staple crop cultivated at islands is paddy. Gross Area under Paddy is ~ 11000 hectares, The cultivation area is decreasing gradually as the total area under paddy cultivation was around 12000 hectares in 1990. The production of rice is only around 20,000 metric tonnes.

The extent of industrialization is evidenced from the fact that this islands only have 5 Large/Medium Scale Industry !.

The number of fair price shops in the Island is 460 (all Government, Co-operative and private sectors).


Municipal Council 1, Municipal Ward 18 and 67 Panchayats