The Hindu : Front Page : "Eliminate bonded labour system"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

"Eliminate bonded labour system"

Staff Reporter

Government should enforce the Minimum Wages Act, 1948: fishermen

PROTEST: Fishermen observing a fast opposite the Collectorate in Nagercoil on Tuesday. — Photo: A. Shaikmohideen.

TIRUNELVELI : Fishermen observed a fast opposite the Collectorate in Nagercoil on Tuesday, urging the Government to initiate immediate steps to weed out bonded labour system, which is "in vogue" among fishermen.

The protestors said the Government should enforce the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and evolve new strategies to save fisherfolk from being cheated by middlemen.

In a bid to supplement the revenue of the fishermen's families and protect them from being trapped into debt traps, training should be given in alternative income generation activities, they said.

The Fishermen Co-operative Societies, which are presently "weak," should be invigorated so that fishermen could export their catches through the societies to which they are affiliated.

To save fish gears during natural calamities, groynes (hook-shaped jetties) should be constructed in all fishermen hamlet.

A general fund should be jointly created by the State and Central Governments and insurance companies to bail out fishermen at times of distress, the protestors said.

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