The National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) has demanded that all political parties in the country, regional or national, should make the promise of creating a separate ministry for fisheries sector and to take care of the welfare of the fishing community in their manifestos.

At a press conference here on Friday, NFFChairperson M Ilango said that the fishing community and the fisheries sector had been grossly neglected for years. “Till date, fisheries sector is part of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and none has bothered to create a separate ministry despite several representations,” he said.

He said that the NFF had been voicing the demand for a separate fisheries ministry persistently. “We insist that all parties include this promise in their manifesto. So far, only the Congress has done it and some parties like BJP and CPI have assured to do it. But the response has been poor from the TDP and YSR Congress,” he said.

He also demanded that the parties give adequate representation for the people from the community in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. “Ever since Independence, the representation has been nominal. In 2009, there were only four members from the community in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha," Ilango said.

The fishing community accounts for five per cent of the population and the gross business churned out annually exceeds Rs 30,000 crore, with about Rs 18,000 crore being exports. “We demand at least five per cent representation in both Houses of Parliament,” he said.

Referring to Seemandhra region, Ilango demanded that the parties should make a promise that no coast-based industries would be set up, as the catches had been dwindling over the last decade, thanks to effluent pumping. “There has also been a huge displacement of fisherfolk due to the setting up of industries. The trend must be curbed,” he said.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

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