Centre works on deep sea fishing plan for fishers

CHENNAI: A week after meeting external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and urging her to find a permanent solution to the issue of Tamil fishermen, Tamil Nadu BJP leader and Union minister of state for heavy industries Pon Radhakrishnan convened a meeting with the fishermen's representatives from six districts on Sunday at the party headquarters in Chennai.
Radhakrishnan said the Union government is sincere in its efforts to find a permanent solution to the vexing issue. "I met the representatives of fishermen following my two hour long discussion with the external affairs minister," Radhakrishnan told TOI over phone.
He said another round of discussions would be convened on August 16 at the party headquarters with a larger group of fishermen representatives. "Our priority is to ensure free and safe fishing for our Tamil Nadu fishermen. We are also concerned about the rights of Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen who had suffered for more than 25 years. We should not give room for Rajapaksa government to take advantage at any point," Radhakrishnan said.
Though fishing is a state subject, the Centre is focussing on finding a solution to TN's fishermen problems due to the frequent arrests of fishermen and seizure of their boats by the Sri Lankan marine authorities. "Fortunately, the TN government is co-operating with the Centre on sorting out the issues of fishermen," he said.
The leaders of Tamil Nadu BJP are likely to meet Swaraj again after the August 16 meeting. National Fishworkers' Forum chairman M Elango said that the minister has assured them that the government will take all steps to immediately release the 93 fishermen and 62 boats currently under the custody of the Lankan government.
"During our meeting with him, Radhakrishnan explained the efforts being taken by Indian external affairs ministry. He also asked our suggestions. Deep-sea fishing is one of the important suggestions from our side," he added. Representatives of fishermen from Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Tanjore, Tiruvarur and Karaikal attended the hour-long discussion with the minister and his party seniors.
A senior BJP leader said that the TN unit wishes to sort out the issue before the next assembly elections. "The Centre is seriously working out some strategies for deep sea fishing. It is ready to allocate sufficient funds for that," the leader said. The fishermen's associations told the Centre that it can help by funding the modifications that would be required to make the boats worthy of deep-sea fishing.
The TN BJP delegation that met with Swaraj had also submitted a preliminary study report on deep sea fishing. "We have suggested many methods of fishing as alternatives to crossing Indian borders. Sushma was very positive to our suggestions," a leader who part of the delegation said.