During the demand for grants debate in the state assembly on Wednesday, the fishing community exhibited mixed feelings on the announcements made by fisheries and fishermen welfare minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan.
While they were welcoming the license period extension for fishing vessels, no mention of the fishing ban period compensation has left them a disheartened lot.
The announcements that exhilarated the community are the extension of fishing vessels' license period to three years, the rise of compensation for natural death for fishers from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000, the rise of daily relief amount to families of missing fishermen from Rs 250 to Rs 350, and the proposal to build groynes, boat jetties, fishing harbours, fish auction centres and mending centres at several places across the Tamil Nadu coastline.
Moreover, the fishermen headed by traditional village committee president Edison Fernando in Thoothukudi district's Punnakayal hamlet exhibited deep gratitude to Chief Minister MK Stalin and Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan for allocating Rs 10 crore for several infrastructure projects in their village. The minister had announced internal development works, a fishnet mending centre, roads, and drinking water facility for Punnakayal hamlet situated at the mouth of the Thamirabarani River.
Anton Gomez, National Fishermen Union president while speaking to media persons said though they welcomed most of the announcements, it was disheartening to learn that the demand for grants debate made no mention of fishing ban period compensation, pension and houses for the welfare of fishermen. The DMK, which had promised to increase the fishing ban relief to Rs 8,000 in the poll manifesto, has only increased it to Rs 6,000 from Rs 5,000 last year, he said.
On the grant of 75% subsidy on safety gear i.e., life jackets for 40,000 fishermen, Gomez said the scheme coverage should be expanded to at least 4.3 lakh fishermen officially registered in the records maintained by societies. In addition to this, he added, "The actual fishermen’s strength in the state might even be over 10 lakhs. It is also disheartening that the construction of groynes in Tirunelveli district was not announced for Kootapuli, Koothankuli, and Thomaiyarpuram fishing hamlets which are vulnerable to extreme sea erosion."
Gomez also alleged that in Tirunelveli district, the building of groynes was getting delayed by years only because the project was transferred from the fisheries department to the public works department. He said, "This happened owing to the interference of Radhapuram MLA and assembly speaker M Appavu. The fishermen are also annoyed that the fisheries minister did not gave clarity on issues related to the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), a recent draft notification of which missed mention of over 400 fishing hamlets along the Coromandel Coast."
Neithal Makkal Iyakkam district president Kurumpanai Berlin said that the government must re-evaluate the number of funds allocated for the construction of groyne alongside a boat jetty at Mela Kadiyapattinam, Iraimanthurai, and Annainagar beaches in Kanniyakumari district. During the fishing ban period and the stationing of ambulances in the coastal areas he also raised the demand for 350 relief per fisher. In the meantime, the fisher community has also urged the government to increase the quantity of subsidised kerosene provided for outboard engines and double the provision of tax-free diesel.
