Andaman ferry disaster ... not very unexpected !!!

Today's morning newspaper reminded me of my trip to Andaman in 2011, albeit in an unpleasant way. More than 20 tourists died when a ferry capsized near Ross island.

The ferry system in Andaman is really deplorable and this disaster has not come as a surprise. Here are few things / points that we felt made the system unsafe:

1. Old boats and limited room for new players to offer better transport : our trip was organised by a big tour company and we asked why couldn't a better boat be arranged for the 30-35 odd group. However, their apparently are some government / defence rules that don't allow this to happen. Imagine how good it would be if smaller boats like Makruzz were available.
2. Transfer of passengers to a far away boat by crossing all the swaying boats in between: when we visited there would be 4-5 boats lined up horizontally with one boat ashore. Passengers, including elderly were made to cross all the boats and reach the last one. With the ocean swaying the boats, this was not a mean task even for youngsters like us. We always kept wondering what if someone would fall between the boats.
3. Missing or tattered life jackets and no enforcement to put these on: while there were few places during the trip where life jackets were sacrosanct, for most of the system this was a mere formality that had little meaning.

Andaman is an amazing tourist destination. If it were developed well it could give Singapore's Sentosa island a run for its money. Lax government, however, does little beyond advertising the 'Incredible India!'.

Gas cylinder and Aadhaar based bank account subsidy

I guess i am not alone trying to figure out the doubts surrounding LPG gas subsidy and direct account transfer based on Aadhaar.

Today, however i got my first cylinder based on bank account subsidy. I had not visited my gas agency to update Aadhaar but had updated it on the Indane website.

• The gas delivery guy gave me a receipt of Rs. 1235/- as against the normal Rs. 420/- (Rates may vary based on location)
• Within an hour i got a message from IOC stating that Rs. 435 towards subsidy has been transferred to my account. I checked in the linked account and found it credited with the amount.
• I was, however, wondering why i have not been given the complete subsidy when i had not exhausted my quota of 9 cylinders per annum. According to my calculation i should have received Rs. 815 in my account.
• Later in the day i called up the hotline 18002333555 (which i guess is valid for all LPG consumers irrespective of agency) and they explained that the amount of Rs. 435/- in my account is towards "advance subsidy" from the government and not the agency. The amount of Rs. 815/- is still to be credited to my account and it takes about 2 days from the date of delivery.

This was a convincing explanation, and i now stand waiting for the right amount to get credited in the next 2 days.

The agent on the call couldn't, however, explain "advanced subsidy" very well. He was also not sure if this will get debited back from my account.

Please let me know what your experience has been?