Draft Seventh Five Year Plan 1985-'90 Union Territory of Lakshadweep

Abstract

Lakshadweep is India's tiniest Union Territory with an area of 32 Sq. Kms. and a population of 42,000 Situated 250 To 500 Kms. From Cochin, in the Arabian sea. It consists of 12 Coral Atolls, 10 of them inhabited, and some isolated and sand banks. For centuries they remained totally isolated from the mainland. So much so that for many months after August, 1947, most islanders did not know about the epoch making events in Delhi. Considering the past neglect and accumulated backwardness, Government converted this archipelago into a Union Territory in 1956 and declared all local inhabitants, who happened to be Muslims, as Scheduled Tribes.