Paradip: Thousands of fishermen living in Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district are feeling like fish out of water as there is no provision of government aid for them.
Though the state government has made various yojanas for them, it is yet to be found out if they are actually benefited from these yojanas or not.
They depend on fishing and other related activities to sustain their livelihood. But with the passage of time and lack of fishermen-targeted government schemes, their lone livelihood option seems to be at peril.
During election time many political parties did tall promises during their campaigning but the fishermen’s fate has not changed yet, sources said.
Many members of the fishermen community in the village have left their traditional calling and switched to other trade over past few years. Many of them are also reported to have migrated to southern states either for fishing or other daily wage based works.
“Most of the villagers here rely on fishing as their business but the prospects have come down. Due to dominance of fishing mafia, the fish catch and their varieties too have dipped. Income from fishing has also dwindled,” said, a fisherman.
To protect fishermen families, the Centre has formulated the Fishermen Group Accident Insurance Scheme in which they are insured for Rs 2 lakh against death or permanent total disability and Rs 1 lakh for partial permanent disability. But no fishermen in the area are insured under the scheme yet.
Many fishermen do odd jobs in various trawlers. They stay within the sea for about six to seven months. Though the fishermen urge the authorities for registration of their names either in central or state insurance scheme, owners of the respective trawlers are not showing any interest for the same.
As their names are not registered in respective schemes, they have been deprived of insurance benefits. Though some fishermen have applied for the state insurance scheme, their insurance money could not be approved thanks to the apathy of the block administration.
However the state government issued an order banning mechanised fishing activities off within the sea area in Paradip for seven months in a year (from November to May) to facilitate breeding of aqua fauna in the sea.
During the ban period, as per the government scheme a fisherman should be provided with a remuneration of Rs 1500 per month. But the rule is maintained in the paper and pen only, alleged members of the community.
They also alleged that though Nolia families of Astarng, Puri and Kendrapara are facilitated with remunerations money during ban period but the same provision is not applicable in Paradip.
About 6000 to 7000 Nolia families struggle for their livelihood but neither the state government nor the Centre is least concerned about their plight.
A report said in last five years about 27 fishermen have lost their life in the middle of the sea. As families of the deceased lose their bread winner, they are trapped into the vicious circle of poverty.
The fishermen family urged the government to protect the community by arranging permanent source of livelihood by arranging an aid system for them.
PNN