THOOTHUKUDI: The fishing community has expressed mixed feelings about the announcements made by fisheries and fishermen welfare minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan during the demand for grants debate in the state assembly on Wednesday. While they welcomed the license period extension for fishing vessels, no mention of the fishing ban period compensation has left them a disappointed lot.
Extension of fishing vessels' license period to three years, the hike of compensation for natural death for fishers from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000, the hike of daily relief amount to families of missing fishermen from Rs 250 to Rs 350, and proposal to construct groynes, fishing harbours, boat jetties, fish auction centres and mending centres at various places across the TN coastline, were announcements that elated the community.
Further, the fishermen headed by traditional village committee president Edison Fernando in Thoothukudi district's Punnakayal hamlet expressed deep gratitude to Chief Minister MK Stalin and Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan for allocating Rs 10 crore for various infrastructure projects in their village. The minister had announced a fishnet mending centre, internal development works, roads, and drinking water facility for Punnakayal hamlet located at the mouth of the Thamirabarani River.
Speaking to media persons, National Fishermen Union president Anton Gomez said though they welcomed most of the announcements, it was disappointing 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 hike the fishing ban relief to Rs 8,000 in the poll manifesto, has only hiked it to Rs 6,000 from Rs 5,000 last year, he said.
On the grant of 75% subsidy on safety gear (life jacket) for 40,000 fishermen, Gomez said the scheme coverage should be extended to at least the 4.3 lakh fishermen officially documented in the records maintained by societies. "The actual fishermen strength in the state might even be over 10 lakh. It is also disappointing that construction of groynes was not announced for Koothankuli, Kootapuli and Thomaiyarpuram fishing hamlets in Tirunelveli district, which has been vulnerable to severe sea erosion," he added.
Gomez also alleged that the construction of groynes in Tirunelveli district was getting delayed by years only because the project was transferred from the fisheries department to the public works department. "This happened owing to the interference of Radhapuram MLA and assembly speaker M Appavu. The fishermen are also aggrieved that the fisheries minister did not give 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," he said.
The government must also reconsider the number of funds allocated for the construction of groyne alongside a boat jetty at Iraimanthurai, Mela Kadiyapattinam and Annainagar beaches in Kanniyakumari district, said Neithal Makkal Iyakkam district president Kurumpanai Berlin. He also raised the demand for `350 relief per fisher during the fishing ban period and the stationing of ambulances in the coastal areas. Meanwhile, 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.