With the death of the former Administrator of Lakshadweep on December 4, 2020, Praful Khoda Patel, a former MLA from Gujarat took charge as the new Administrator. Previously having worked closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the then Gujarat cabinet, Khoda is hell-bent on implementing a slew of reforms favouring the Central Government. Recently, he brought in the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation, 2021, a destructive new order that threatens the way of life of all the indigenous people living there. According to the people’s representatives in the islands, no public consultations were held before the reforms were brought in by the Administrator.
This reform is being enacted through the power given by the central government that allows for them to build new projects like mining shafts, roads, infrastructure and other development projects, at the expense of the welfare of the people in that island.
According to this unconstitutional reform, the government has absolute power to remove islanders and repossess their property, essentially shifting them out of their land.
Due to COVID regulations and current lockdown it is becoming increasingly easy for administrators to misuse the situation to implement reforms, which also includes denying permission for protests.
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