EWS (Economically Weaker Section) Certificate in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

What is an EWS certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?

An EWS certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the Income and Asset Certificate that the Revenue Department of the Administration issues to prove a resident belongs to the Economically Weaker Sections, so that the 10% reservation created by the 103rd Constitutional Amendment can be claimed. The certifying officer is the concerned Tehsildar, the same officer who signs the islands' income, local, residence and OBC certificates under the Deputy Commissioner of the district.

The Andaman and Nicobar Administration runs an e-District portal at edistrict.andamannicobar.gov.in, delivered under the National e-Governance Plan and implemented in the islands with a target of 78 citizen services. Applications on that portal are filed through a Common Service Centre, an e-corner or your own internet connection, and once an application is approved the applicant receives an SMS and downloads the digitally signed certificate using the application number. The islands' district certificate menus, however, list income, local, OBC, residence, senior citizen, dependent, family member, unemployment, solvency, valuation, legal heir and origin or language certificates, and no separate EWS certificate. The EWS Income and Asset Certificate is therefore applied for directly to the concerned Tehsildar on the central proforma.

Who can and who cannot apply?

You can apply if you reside in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, your family's gross annual income is below Rs 8 lakh for the financial year from all sources together, and your family owns none of the excluded assets. "Family" for this purpose means the applicant, the applicant's parents, siblings below 18 years of age, spouse, and children below 18 years of age — so a married elder sibling's earnings do not count.

You cannot apply if you are recognised as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class. That matters particularly in these islands, where the Nicobarese and the Shompen are Scheduled Tribes and the district offices already issue OBC certificates: a person entitled to one of those certificates is outside the EWS scheme, which exists only for people not covered by SC, ST or OBC reservation. You are also not eligible, whatever your income, if your family owns or possesses:

• 5 acres of agricultural land or more;
• a residential flat of 1,000 sq ft or more;
• a residential plot of 100 sq yards or more in a notified municipality;
• a residential plot of 200 sq yards or more in an area other than a notified municipality.

Property held by the family in different locations is clubbed before this test is applied. For island families this often means land on the mainland has to be declared alongside land in the islands.

What documents are required?

The Tehsildar's revenue checklist in these islands is short and specific, and the EWS file builds on it:

• Islander card or Aadhaar as identity proof. The district service pages name "ID Proof (Islander/Aadhar)" first.
• Ration card, which establishes the family unit being certified.
• An affidavit declaring total family income from all sources and every land, flat and plot holding.
• A pay certificate if the earning members are government employees, or income tax returns for private sector applicants.
• Land and property records for every location, in the islands and on the mainland.
• A recent passport-size photograph for the face of the certificate.

How to get an EWS certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

1. Work out the family's income and asset position first. Add salary, agricultural, business and professional income for the financial year, and list every parcel of land, plot and flat the family holds anywhere, since holdings in different places are clubbed.
2. Prepare the application on the central Income and Asset Certificate proforma, addressed to the Tehsildar of the tehsil where your family normally resides: Port Blair, Ferrargunj or Little Andaman in South Andaman district, or the corresponding tehsil in North and Middle Andaman or Nicobar district.
3. Attach the Islander card or Aadhaar, ration card, affidavit, pay certificate or income tax returns, property records and photograph, and submit the file at the concerned Tehsildar office. Carry the originals, because documents are cross-checked against them.
4. Pay only the fee the office lists, plus the notified operator charge if you have used a Common Service Centre or an e-corner to prepare the papers, and collect the acknowledgement.
5. Wait for field verification. Revenue staff verify income and property before the Tehsildar signs, which is why the certificate is not handed over the same day.
6. Collect the signed certificate and check the certificate number, the date, the financial year for which it is valid and the address details before leaving.

How do you check the status of an application?

Keep the acknowledgement issued at the Tehsildar office. For services routed through the Andaman and Nicobar e-District portal, the Administration sends an SMS to the registered mobile number when an application is approved, and the digitally signed certificate is then downloaded from the portal using the application number given at the time of applying. The e-District helpdesk on 03192-259027 and 03192-259028 handles portal problems, including OTPs that do not arrive on the registered mobile number. For a paper EWS file that has stalled, take the acknowledgement to the Deputy Commissioner's office of your district.

Why are applications rejected?

• The applicant is entitled to an SC, ST or OBC certificate, and so falls outside the EWS scheme.
• Family income crosses Rs 8 lakh once agricultural and business income is added to salary.
• Land in the islands plus land on the mainland adds up to 5 acres or more after clubbing.
• The family's flat measures 1,000 sq ft or more, or a residential plot crosses the 100 or 200 sq yard limit.
• The file was submitted to a tehsil where the family does not normally reside.
• The affidavit understates income or omits a property that field verification then finds.
• The certificate was obtained for the wrong financial year.

What does it cost, and what about agents?

The EWS certificate in these islands costs only the government fee the Tehsildar's office lists, plus the notified operator charge if you file through a Common Service Centre or an e-corner. No revenue official, clerk or middleman is entitled to anything more. Agents who offer to "manage" the verification are selling risk, not speed: under the central rules an appointment on an EWS claim is provisional until the appointing authority verifies the certificate through the issuing officer, and a false claim leads to termination of service. Keep the fee receipt and the acknowledgement, and raise any demand for money with the Deputy Commissioner's office.

When do you need the certificate by?

Under the central rules, the crucial date for holding a valid income and asset certificate is the closing date for receipt of applications for the post, unless the recruiting body fixes another date. Because verification in the islands involves field enquiry and, for the outlying tehsils, travel, start the application well before an examination or admission deadline rather than in the last week. Get a fresh certificate for each financial year instead of reusing the previous year's copy.