The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Restore livelihood: Mani Shankar Aiyar

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Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Restore livelihood: Mani Shankar Aiyar

By Our Special Correspondent

Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister (second from left), arriving at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai to address a conference on Saturday. At left is M.S. Swaminathan, MSSRF chairman. — Photo: N. Sridharan

CHENNAI, APRIL 2. The State Government cannot take a phased approach to vocational rehabilitation of tsunami-affected persons. Instead, tools to re-start their trade will have to be supplied to everyone, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Panchayati Raj, Mani Shankar Aiyar, said today.

Defining rehabilitation as the most economic form of responding to a disaster, Mr. Aiyar charged that "almost nothing has been done" in terms of restoring livelihood to the fisherfolk in the tsunami-affected districts of Tamil Nadu. "We must get fishermen out to sea. Giving boats and nets is not one of the things to be done, but the main thing to be done." Mr. Aiyar was speaking at a conference `Beyond Tsunami: Significance of the Dandi March' organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in the city.

The Minister contended that fishermen had a very strong sense of community bonding and that this prevented some fishermen from going out to sea though they had a few boats. A small number of fishermen are reluctant to go out to sea, believing that this would hamper others who do not have boats from getting them, he added. Mr. Aiyar also said that while immediate relief was good, sufficient attention was not being paid to rehabilitation.

Aquaculture centre

He announced that the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture would be set up in Mayiladuthurai to provide training for fishermen. The land for the area has been identified and the centre will soon come up, he promised.

With all the attention focused on fishermen, the farmers affected by the tsunami were being left out. Though both groups had lived together in harmony so far, this partisan approach was sure to lead to tensions between the groups. The media was stoking this further and attributing caste colours to it, he charged. Efforts should be taken to provide solutions to re-claim fields that were flooded by the tsunami and guidance to grow the crops that would flourish in such conditions.

He advocated a participative approach when drawing up plans for rehabilitation, stating that development and prosperity must not be imposed, as it would be disruptive. In this context, he stressed the central role of the panchayati raj institutions. They must be involved in all planning and implementation activities, besides making the decisions for the community, he said.

Traditional rights

N. Ravi, Editor, The Hindu , said the context of the Dandi March was significant in that it had showed that certain traditional rights to resources had to be safeguarded, and highlighted the interaction between man and nature.

The tsunami had indicated the extreme vulnerability of the people living along the coast and this had to be addressed urgently, he said.

M.S. Swaminathan, chairman, MSSRF, elaborated on the recommendations provided by the Coastal Regulation Zone Review Committee, constituted by the Central Government in July last year.

Researchers attached to the Foundation made presentations on the various intervention strategies that could be effected in the tsunami-hit areas to secure the short-term and long-term rehabilitation of those affected.

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