The National Fishermen Forum has urged the Centre to set up a separate Fisheries Ministry for fishermen welfare.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, M. Ilango, chairman of the Forum, said that though various fishermen associations across the country had been demanding the Centre for a lomg time to create a separate Ministry for Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare by bifurcating the Agriculture Ministry, it had not materialised.
Similarly, several parties had committed to work towards the creation of Fisheries Ministries. It had not made any impact on the Union government either. Fishermen across the country had been facing lot of problems, domestically and externally.
Incidents of arrest of Indian fishermen by neighbouring countries including Sri Lanka and Pakistan on charge of crossing the maritime boundary were on the rise. If there was a dedicated Ministry for Fisheries, it would be easy for the fishermen to approach it seeking immediate attention on issues.
Efficient
A separate Ministry would be more efficient at working out plans and programmes to increase marine wealth. If there were conflicts, they could be attended to immediately, Mr. Ilango said.
The Forum had planned to undertake a nationwide campaign to urge political parties to include the demand of creating a separate Ministry for Fisheries in their election manifesto.
Office-bearers of the Forum would visit 13 coastal States and Union Territories to learn about grievances and demands of all fishermen.
