On Lakshadweep

 Lakshadweep is an interesting case study. 

1. 70% of the people in the island are "Not Working" - neither full time nor part time, as per the 2011 Census. 

2. Everything on the islands goes from the mainland. 

3. Tuna, which is one of the most expensive fish in the world, is found abundantly around Lakshadweep. But the first tuna processing plant was set up in June 2021. 

4. Even though there are ten uninhabited islands on the archipelago, solar power transmission was not seriously explored until January 2024. Before this, there was one solar power plant on the main island, but the bulk of the power generation was through private diesel generators. 

5. Only one luxury hotel was operational in Lakshadweep. It was shut down because the locals protested that the hotel served alcohol, which is haraam in Islam. Neighbouring Maldives, also largely Muslim, had no such issues. This hotel was on an uninhabited island. 

6. Shri Amitabh Kant had made a presentation to help create ecotourism huts in Lakshadweep - as far back as 2019. The project did not take off. 

7. It also has the highest population density in India. The density of population of the district as per 2011 Census is 2,149 persons per sq.km as against 1895 in 2001. 

8. There are two aerial connects - Agatti and Bangaram. The other way to get there is to take a cruise ship from the mainland (Kerala). The commute is 14-15 hours. 

9. The entire place allows no alcohol because it is an Islamic region (yes, this is different from alcohol ban in Bihar and Gujarat, where the cause of ban is control over crime rate. Here, the reason for the ban is the religion of the majority). 

10. There is only one crop on the entire region - coconuts. Some people have private vegetable gardens etc. but mostly everything is carried from the mainland. 

In terms of livestock, most islanders keep goats and poultry. Cattle is rare because feed is expensive and hard to come by. 

There are only 2 occupations - fishing and coconut farming. Tourism is NOT a major employment option. 

11. There is ONE coir processing factory, nothing to create processed food items from coconut. 

12. The per capita income is, as expected, low. But what is even more interesting is the level of skew. Because of the strong caste based employment, the land owning communities make a lot more money than the (non) working other communities. 

IF tourism has to develop in Lakshadweep, some changes, imho, that will need to be made are: 

A. Reduce the government aid and slowly phase it out. 

B. Create policies for PPP tourism infrastructure. Develop more helipads and have choppers with higher capacities. 

C. Make alcohol permissible. 

D. At the end of the day, it is the locals that make or mar a tourism experience. Today, Lakshadweep citizens have reserved college seats on the mainland. Make those seats reserved for tourism related courses, so that the local population prioritises and is upskilled on tourism revenue. 

E. Like Maldives, start with and stick with eco tourism. 

Lakshadweep is a very important archipelago for India's naval interests. The coral reefs are important ecological resources that matter to all humanity. 

IF this is the start of a new chapter in Lakshadweep history, shubasya sheegram!