Andaman and Nicobar Islands MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend 100 per cent reservation for the domiciles of the archipelago in jobs under the Union Territory administration, as has been done in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Such a decision will ensure timely filling up of more than 7,500 vacancies under the Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Sharma said in a letter to Modi on Monday. The Congress legislator, the lone MP of the Union Territory, said that lack of sufficient employment opportunities especially in the light of the high literacy rate in the islands has resulted in growing challenges of unemployment.

According to the 2011 Census, the population of the archipelago is 3,79,944 and the literacy rate is 86.27 per cent. "In absence of major private industries in the Islands and uncertainty prevailing in the tourism sector, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration and departments under the Central Government are a major and most reliable source of providing employment to the Islanders throughout the Islands' territory." Now the candidates from other States and Union Territories applying and securing employment in the Group ‘C' and Group ‘B' (Non-Gazetted) jobs of Andaman and Nicobar Administration has further aggravated the problem of unemployment for the residents of Andaman & Nicobar Islands," Sharma said in the letter.

Candidates from the mainland excel in competitive examinations as they get better coaching and other facilities compared to the islanders, he said. The government has decided to extend 100 per cent job reservation in public appointments to the local people of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, he said and urged the prime minister to give a similar order for Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The MP said that he has proposed a private member bill titled “The reservation of post in Government establishments of Andaman & Nicobar Islands” and it is likely to be taken up on August 6.