Sri Vijaya Puram, Jan 04: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday chaired a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Saturday.
The meeting, which started at 11 am and ended around 2.40 pm, focused on issues regarding national security, disaster management, cyber security and regional infrastructure, sources said.
The meeting also stressed using latest technologies to fight crime and having more state-of-the-art centres, such as the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) and the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), at the regional level, they said.
A separate session on the strategic importance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands was also held, the sources said.
Union Ministers of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, members of the committee, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, and other officials attended the meeting.
Shah arrived in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Friday night on a three-day visit. His plane landed at INS Utkrosh, adjacent to Veer Savarkar International Airport, in Sri Vijaya Puram around 10.45 pm. He was received by Lieutenant Governor D K Joshi, among others.
This is Shah’s second visit to the islands in less than a month. He visited the archipelago on December 12 to commemorate the 116th anniversary of V D Savarkar’s iconic poem ‘Sagara Pran Talamala’.
Later in the afternoon, the Union Home Minister inaugurated an exhibition on the new criminal laws at the ITF ground in Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly Port Blair, in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Saturday.
The three-day exhibition aims to make people aware of the new justice codes, reforms and its key points.
Director General of Police Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal welcomed Shah at the ‘Naveen Nyaya Sanhita’ exhibition and briefed the Union home minister about plans to make the programme a success.
There are 10 kiosks and stalls adorned with posters highlighting the reforms under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA).
An interactive session on the three laws was also organised by the Andaman and Nicobar Police.
“It’s a citizen-centric exhibition with a key focus on mandatory forensic and integration of technology in investigations. We have also kept special kiosks for citizens with new provisions addressing crimes against women and children,” a senior police officer said.
Importance has also been given to how people keep themselves away from cyber crimes, he said.
Union Home Minister asserted that Andaman & Nicobar Islands will become a major contributor to the country’s treasury in 10 years. He also expressed optimism that in two years, India will advance to become the third-largest economy in the world from the current fourth.
Shah was speaking at the inauguration and foundation stone-laying of various projects worth Rs 373 crore in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which he described as a “pilgrimage site” when it comes to India’s independence struggle.
Hinting at the International transhipment project, oil exploration trial and other developmental projects in the archipelago, the Union Home Minister said this group of islands was once considered a drain on the country’s treasury.
“But today, under (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji’s vision, I am confident that after the next 10 years, this island group will be a major contributor to the country’s treasury. Not the least, India has now become the fourth-largest economy, and I am confident that in two years, it will be the third-largest economy in the world,” he said.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose unfurled the national flag and liberated Andaman on December 30, 1943, Shah said, adding that in his honour, the Prime Minister has named the two islands Andaman and Nicobar as ‘Shaheed’ and ‘Swaraj’ respectively after his wish.
“This land is a pilgrimage site for every Indian living in independent India. During the freedom struggle, the fighters’ oppression and their voices could not reach the world,” he said.
Now, Veer Savarkar’s memorial and the torch in the Cellular Jail are telling the world that many martyrs had laid down their lives here, the Union home minister said at the programme held at Netaji Stadium here.
“Modi Ji has undertaken the task of naming the islands after brave warriors,” he said, referring to the Prime Minister in 2023 christening 21 islands in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago after Param Vir Chakra awardees.
Referring to the exhibition on new criminal laws, which he inaugurated during the day, Shah said people must see the exhibition on the new justice codes introduced to abolish the laws of the British to understand the changes taking place in the criminal justice system.
“Modi ji has launched a campaign to free the country from the symbols of slavery. In this direction, Port Blair has been renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram. Andaman and Nicobar Islands have become the focal point of our freedom, sovereignty, maritime power, and economic activities in today’s times,” he said.
Due to its crucial strategic location in the Indo-Pacific region, the islands have immense possibilities for the blue economy and vast potential for tourism, he said, adding that the Centre is committed to developing the entire archipelago, while preserving its heritage.
“In 2047, during the centenary celebration of India’s independence, when our country will be number one in every field, the insistence on self-reliant India and Swadeshi is very important,” Shah said about the ‘Viksit Bharat’ campaign.
Shah inaugurated a road project from Zero Point to East West Road at Great Nicobar Block, a Consumer Commission Building, phase one of a 155-bedded hospital, a 50-bedded Intensive Care Unit, the Integrated Control and Command Centre, and a DNA & Cyber Forensic Laboratory.
Shah will depart the archipelago on January 4.
