Vigil needed to prevent transnational firms from violating ban
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko on Sunday urged the State government to formulate an assured job scheme for fishermen during the annual 45-day fishing ban period and pay them Rs.100 a day.
In a statement, he said that the relief assistance provided by the State government during the ban period of 45 days to the families of crew/labourers on fishing boats was not sufficient. Instead of providing relief based on family cards, the government should take into account their registration in fishermen's cooperative societies and fisherwomen who made a living by selling fish.
The government has imposed a ban on fishing from April 15 to May 29 off the east coast and from June 15 to July 29 off the west coast to conserve fishery resources during the fish breeding season.
During this period, strict vigil should be maintained to ensure that fishing trawlers run by transnational firms did not violate the ban and it was also essential for the State and Central governments to protect the lives of Tamil fishermen, he said.
Keywords: annual fishing ban, relief assistance
Mr. Vaiko is absolutely right in asking higher compensation for fisherfolk during this 45 days of 'fishing ban' period. All the families registered with fishermen's Co-operative should be given Rs.7500 per family for the entire period. This would help them not only to sustain their families, but would also help them to attend any small repair work of their fishing boat and nets. More so, if their complete food and other expenses are taken care of during this 'ban' scheme, they can also spend some 'quality time' with their families at home. The head of the family profession is such that they hardly find good time to interact with their children. Let this 45 days be happy family period.
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