‘Kumaraswamy Namma Mukyamantri Alla’! say Fisherwomen during Protest for Neglecting their Community

‘Kumaraswamy Namma Mukyamantri Alla’! say Fisherwomen during Protest for Neglecting their Community

Udupi: Showing anguish for neglecting the fishing community in the state budget, fisherwomen staged a protest against Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in a unique way under the slogan “Kumaraswamy Namma Mukyamantri Alla” (Kumaraswamy is not our CM). The protest was held at the High-tech fish market here on July 13.

Holding placards and selling the fish, fisherwomen expressed their anger against chief minister Kumaraswamy.

Speaking to media persons, the President of Udupi Fresh Fish seller’s Association, Baby Salian said that the community had hopes on chief minister Kumaraswamy. “Before the elections, he had assured to waive the farmers’ loans including others. Kumaraswamy did not keep his promise of waiving farmers’ loan completely. The fishermen community has been totally neglected for many years in the state. The earlier Congress government had also assured many schemes for all the communities but not for the Fishermen community. The community is not getting proper assistance from the state government.”

Salian said, “Since the fishing industry was in distress, MLAs from the coastal districts had met the CM and kept forth several demands, including the waiver of loans taken by the fishermen. The demands also included a grant for the development of fishing harbors, increase in diesel quota from 350 litres to 500 litres for mechanized fishing vessels and other welfare projects. However, the CM did not consider the demands.”

“Former chief minister Siddaramaiah had assured interest-free loans to fisherwomen to help them and to promote the fish trade. We were expecting the government to make the assurances a reality. However, the schemes were not mentioned in the budget. The budget does not even point out crucial tasks such as dredging and maintenance of breakwaters at the ports and sea erosion. There is no mention of the diesel subsidy that has been deprived since the beginning of this year,” she said.

Salian also said, “Women who sell fish are getting loans from banks and they repay them honestly. We are not asking for a loan waiver but the government should give us loans on 1% interest. Our fishing boats are built with huge investment. Many boats do not get a proper catch and the owners cannot afford to repay the bank loans. The government should help such fishermen by waiving their loan. We are not against the waiving of farmers loans. At the same time, the government should also come to the rescue of fishermen.”

Speaking about the problems of the Hi-tech fish market in Udupi, Salian said, “The new fish market was built one and a half year ago and is yet to get the drinking water connection. Nearly 197 fisherwomen work in the market but it does not have a proper toilet facility for them. Fans that are installed in the market do not function. The market floor is slippery and many customers and fisherwomen have been injured due to falls. The city municipal council of Udupi has not maintained the market well. Former MLA Pramod Madhwaraj had urged the fisherwomen to pay a monthly fee to meet the expenses last time. This could be collected on the basis of the money which the fisherwomen earn. We are paying the fee every month but the maintenance work is not being done.”