AS a follow up to the new line adopted by the Bharatiya Janata Party after Shri Nitin Gadkari took over as national president, to penetrate into the deprived sections of the society, a National Convention of fishermen of East Coast was held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on December 7 and 8, 2010. This was the first time in the country that any political party holding a National convention on the problems of this most exploited and poorest community.
Despite cyclone hitting the East Coast on those two days and despite heavy downpour, six hundred delegates from West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andaman islands attended the national convention.
Shri Nitin Gadkari in his concluding speech touched upon various issues confronting the fishermen of the East Coast. He said: “Now the issues before the country are poverty, generating employment potential and improving the lot of the poorest of the poor. The Congress, which was in power for a long period since Independence, should own up responsibility for the economic and social disparities and the rural-urban divide”
Welcoming the recommendations made in the ‘Visakhapatnam Charter’ he said that the resolutions adopted at the two-day convention would be placed at the BJP national executive slated for January 8 and 9, 2011 at Guwahati.
Gadkari said the packages envisaged in the ‘Visakhapatnam Charter’, which include compulsory insurance for fishermen and institutional loans at low interest and other social security measures, would be implemented in all the BJP-ruled states. He said they would fight both in and out Parliament for formulation of national fishing policy.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should intervene and solve the problem being faced by fishermen of Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka.
Stating that fishermen were facing threat to their livelihood due to industrialisation, acquisition of lands for various projects and lack of infrastructural facilities, he said the BJP was the first party to hold a national convention on fishermen and to take up their cause on a big scale.
Prakash Malgave, national convener of Fishermen Cell presided over the convention. P Muralidhar Rao, National Secretary BJP, who has visited many fishermen villages in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and interacted with the fishermen at ground level, explained “Visakhapatnam Charter” in detail. Prof SV Seshagiri Rao, Dr K Haribabu members of national executive who have also studied the problem in depth, provided the inputs for the “Visakhapatnam Charter.” The Convention was inaugurated by M Venkaiah Naidu.
Visakhapatnam Charter
Traditional fishing has always been an important occupation both in terms of livelihood and in meeting the food security necessities of our country. After agriculture and handloom textile, this sector stands out as one of the main stay of our self-employed economy. More than two crore population including women in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, living in approximately 3,500 coastal villages and port towns along the 8,118 km coast line depend on this avocation. Fishermen venture into the sea risking their lives every day. They are the sentinels guarding the sea coast day and night.
The reliable estimates put the maximum sustainable yields (MSYs) between 3.9 and 4.2 million tonnes. More than half of this production is reported to be within the depth of 50 metres. It is in this zone that the traditional fishermen ply their craft. Against our potential of 4.2 mt, presently the average fish catch stagnated at 2.81million tones. Of this, 63 per cent is coming from the West Coast and the rest from the East Coast. Today, approximately 2,08,000 traditional crafts, 55,000 motorised crafts, 1,250 mechanised boats and 100 deep sea fishing vessels are operating in our marine waters.
Now our fish exports stand at Rs 8,000 whereas the total output exceeds Rs 31,700 crore. Today, India stands at 27th rank in value and 23rd place in volume in marine exports.
With these physical and human resources around, this sector has immense potential in terms of wealth creation, employment generation and food security as well. Unfortunately, such a vast resource has been neglected by the Central Government. The traditional skills and knowledge of those engaged in fishing presently are being underutilised.
Large scale land acquisition along the coast line:
In the last few years along the entire east coast, pursuing the growth paradigm, both the State and Central Governments have promoted huge industrial and power projects, construction of ports in private sector. The establishment of such projects has in many places caused displacement and disruption of fishermen community. In many places they were evicted without providing them adequate compensation, proper infrastructure for the continuation of their profession or with any other alternate employment to support their families. Their lives have become miserable due to this kind of alienation from the traditional avocation. Shockingly, the fishermen belonging to scheduled categories in Orissa have been forced to give up even the small tracts of agricultural land which they have been cultivating as additional source of income. Nowhere, these people were made partners or share holders of these growth project. The promises made either at the time of acquisition or thereafter were not honoured. At many places these poor and illiterate people were not only deprived of their natural right of having unlimited and unfettered access to seas but also were subjected to police high handedness and harassment in the form of fabricated cases.
Multiple departments dealing with different aspects without having an integrated approach were also aggravating the situation. Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and E&F are quite often functioning at the cross purposes.
Pollution due to Industrial and Chemical effluents:
The large scale industrialisation in the form of chemical factories, thermal power plants, has taken a toll on output of marine produce. The social impact study was not undertaken before undertaking these projects. In Nellore district, AP, along a coast of fifty km around 22 power projects are coming up which burn more than 3,17,000 tonnes of coal every day. They release 2,000 tonnes of sulphur violating all norms of the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ). Similar situation prevails in other places like Cuttack- Puri-Paradeep coast. These alarming developments on the coast line would have devastating impact on the livelihood, marine livestock and also on the health of the people. Fishermen of coastal villages have specifically complained about the fast diminishing fish output and also reported the incidents of marine livestock extinction on several occasions, due to continuous flow of effluents into the sea. In some places, the fall in fish produce is alarmingly as high as 70 per cent. This has resulted in steep reduction in their incomes and forcing the men to migrate to far away towns and cities in search of employment and creating distress in the families.
Absence of ‘Minimum Infrastructure’
The Central and State governments have miserably failed to provide the basic infrastructure needs like parking bays for boats, fish landing facilities, jetties, cold storages, fish drying platforms, net repairing places, fish handling centers. Market places or auction halls are also missing in many important fish landing centers. Minimum infrastructure facilities like electrification and drinking water are also not provided. In the fishermen habitats, health facilities are either absent or non functional. Regarding road connectivity, these villages, have been neglected in all these states.
The support from the government for these fishermen in providing the R&D back up in boat and gear designing, information related to the availability of the fish which is a moving resource, handling of fish is completely inadequate and neglected.
Non availability of credit from banks
The credit availability from the nationalised banking sector is not seen in any of these villages in the east coast or even in the advanced centers like Visakhapatnam and Chennai fishing horbours. The fishermen taking loans from private moneylenders at exorbitant rate of interest to purchase crafts and nets. Consequently, many of them are being caught in the debt trap. Working capital for the purpose of motor fuel which constitutes the main recurring expenditure is an additional burden on them. Also is no support from the governments in the form of subsidies. This situation is driving fishermen families into abject poverty and forced migration.
There is no other profession which is more dangerous than sea-fishing. And yet, there is no insurance cover for these people.
It is in this context, the impending legislation on Coastal Regulation Zone, 2010 assumes importance.
The draft circulated by the Central Government in this connection is viewed by the fishermen associations as completely biased in favour of the large corporate sector. The concerns related to housing, sea erosion, construction of new ports, promotion of tourism, mining in the continental shelf are not adequately addressed. That was the reason for the protests all along the coastal towns and villages. There is wide spread apprehension among all the fishermen that the legislation in the proposed form would harm the entire coastal eco-system and jeopardise the lives of millions of people.
And therefore this Convention of Fishermen of East Coast put forward the following charter of demands:
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