With the new policies of the Centre favouring corporates, the fisheries sector is headed towards a perilous phase, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Saturday.
Inaugurating a fishers’ meet on Kollam beach, he added that the Centre was trying to take away all the rights of coastal communities and their anti-people stand was reflected in all sectors. “It was the Narasimha Rao government that opened the seas for foreign trawlers and now the BJP government has gone one step further by snatching the power of States. They are introducing new laws to help the corporates and this will pose a serious threat to the safety and welfare of fishers,” he said.
The Chief Minister added that preventing the intrusion of foreign trawlers was very important and members of fisher cooperatives were being trained for the purpose. “In the initial phase, vessels will be made available for six groups and the Cochin Shipyard has started the construction of vessels.” Talking about the recent surge in kerosene prices, a matter of major concern for traditional fishers, he said that the State had demanded to revise the policy regarding kerosene subsidy and quota in the NITI Aayog meeting.
