No proposal under consideration to grant full statehood to Lakshadweep: MHA

New Delhi [India], July 28 (ANI): There is no proposal under consideration for granting full statehood to the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha to a question by CPI (M) leader Binoy Viswam, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai stated, “No such proposal for full statehood for the Union Territory of Lakshadweep is under consideration.”

“Adequate institutional arrangements exist for the expression of the democratic aspirations of the people in the less populated union territories such as Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu,” the minister said.

“People residing in the UTs elect their Members of Parliament to the Lok Sabha,” Rai stated. He further stated in his reply that the UTs of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu also have a robust two-tier Panchayati Raj system with village and district panchayat bodies, through which people’s participation in the democratic process is ensured.

In Lakshadweep, the extensive delegation of powers and functions has been made to the local bodies, read his reply. (ANI)