MARGAO
Fishermen and boat owners from six states and the Union Territory of Daman & Diu along the country’s west coast have come together to unitedly take up their common issues with the government, including the roll back of highway cess on the fishermen and payment of uniform diesel and kerosene subsidy.
The meeting also constituted a core committee with fishermen from the seven states and has resolved to lead a delegation to the centre to get their common problems redressed.
The fishermen and boat owners were critical of the rising prices of diesel and kerosene and the cascading effect it has on the fishing industry.
They claimed that the fishermen are left with small margins and their income had fallen drastically due to the rising diesel and kerosene prices.
Manohar Bollu, president of Karnataka Coastal Fishermen panel, told the media after the meeting that the fishing industry has been passing through difficult times due to a host of factors and called for government intervention to save the industry from the present situation.
“The fishing industry contributes to foreign exchange earnings and it is in the fitness of things the government of India should help the fishermen and the boat owners,” he said.
Jose Philip D’Souza later told the media that the fishermen and boat owners from Goa have been a discriminated lot as far as the subsidies on diesel are concerned. “Our counterparts in other states are entitled for a subsidy of Rs 90,000 annually, while fishermen in Goa get only Rs 30,000 on fuel,” he said.
Similarly, he said the fishermen and boat owners are forced to pay the highway cess when the fishing boats do not use the highways in pursuit of their fishing business.
“Members of the core committee will call on the centre with a plea to look into the problems of the fishermen and the boat owners sympathetically,” he said, adding that fishermen and the boat owners will not hesitate to agitate and protest in support of their demands if the need arises.
Amongst the host of resolutions passed at the meeting, it was resolved to approach the Centre to reduce diesel prices by exempting road tax and other associated taxes at the earliest and provide subsidized kerosene quota for traditional motorized fishing crafts, appeal to the centre to create a separate ministry for fisheries.
The meeting also decided to name the association of fishermen from the seven states as Akhil Bharat Fishermen’s Association.
