Bhubaneswar: Thousands of fishermen under the banner of Odisha Fishermen Association staged a massive demonstration at Lower PMG square in Bhubaneswar demanding six-point charter of demands including diesel subsidy.
Hundreds of fishermen from various places including Paradip, Balasore, Bahabalpur, Dhamra reached the State Capital in the morning and launched the agitation.
They alleged that fishermen community is being exploited at the hands of the government.
While other States have adopted numerous measures to support the livelihood of the community, Odisha is the only State which ignored the demands of fishermen.
“Our prime demand among others is diesel subsidy. Other states are providing subsidy on diesel to the fishermen. But our government doesn’t agree to implement the same. We have presented our demands before the government several times but it paid no heed to our demands, which forced us to descend on the streets today,” a union leader said.
“If our demands are not met, the agitation would be expanded further. We will sit on dharna till the government fulfills our demands,” he added.
Another protester said that the government has not taken measures for dredging the river mouths, which often causes accidents resulting in loss of lives and properties.
He also demanded that their families should be included under PDS and other social security schemes during the time of fishing ban.
“The families of the fishermen community should be provided with ration cards and given special financial assistance during the three-month fishing ban. We have been demanding the creation of a welfare fund for the fishermen community, which remains unheeded,” another leader said.
He said that a delegation of the association had met fisheries department director and put forth the demands. However, the government is yet to reply, he added.
