Saturday, January 8 2005 19:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port Blair: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Jan 8, 2005) announced an immediate grant of Rs 200 crore for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, badly hit by the tsunami disaster, and declared launching of a comprehensive plan for relief measures and rebuilding of infrastructure.

Making a slew of promises after touring the affected areas of the islands, the Prime Minister said the Government would provide additional funds for various employment programmes, adequate grants for tribals, medical health programmes and infrastructure building.

He said he would appeal to education boards to defer examinations for Class X and XII by a few months for those who opted for it.

State-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters will be asked to provide additional services to the islands, Singh said, adding mobile telephone connectivity will be given to all the major islands.