THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cabinet on Wednesday sanctioned a month's free ration rice for mechanised fishing boat workers and fishing harbour workers in the State.

Briefing the mediapersons after a meeting of the Cabinet here, Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan said around 30,000 fishermen employed in mechanised boats and nearly 10,000 workers at various fishing harbours in the State would get the free ration.

This gesture is in view of the 45-day ban imposed on mechanised trawlers operating in the seas off the State's coast during the monsoon. The ban this year began on June 15.

Mr. Achuthanandan said this was a very old demand of the fishermen community.

Right from 1988, when the monsoon trawling ban was first imposed in the State, they had been urging the Government to extend some relief measures for them during the period they could not go on fishing.

The Cabinet also promoted three police officers to the cadre of additional director general of police.

They are: Netto Desmond, K. S. Subramanyan and K. S. Jangpangi. The Cabinet decided to post a `Cashew Special Officer' in Kollam as part of the measures contemplated by the Government to ensure more working days, fair wages and good working condition for cashew workers.

Another decision is to post Dinesh Arora, presently the sub-collector of Ottappalam, as the joint excise commissioner.

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