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Monday, Nov 20, 2006
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National meet of fishermen, farmers

M. Raghuram

MANGALORE: With the National Conference of Fishermen and Farmers in Mangalore only two days away, leaders of these groups are ready with action plans to counter threats posed by both the Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) regulations. They view both these developments as formidable threats to their trade, food security and livelihood security.

Several organisations representing farmers and fishermen are meeting on this common platform for the first time. The convention will be addressed by social activist Medha Patkar (Narmada Bachao Andolan) and leader of the World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) Rev. Fr. Thomas Kocherry among others.

On November 21 (National Fishermen's Day), the Mangalore Convention will call upon governments to stop ventures that jeopardise the livelihood of farmers and fishermen.

Fr. Kocherry said that the formation of CMZs would create statutory obstructions to fishermen in their day-to-day fishing expeditions, while the 200 SEZs that are on the anvil would take away cultivable lands from farmers.

Another issue to be highlighted during the conference is the need for parity in development between different sectors. Workers in the unorganised sector like small farmers, beedi makers, vendors, petty businessmen and those in the unorganised service sector are threatened by contract farming, industrial fleet fishing, restrictions imposed on street vending, fall in prices of agricultural produce and proliferation of unregulated markets.

The farming community was incensed with the idea of the uncontrolled import routes opening up in the SEZ areas. This could result in domestic markets getting flooded with imported produce. The meet will stress the need to create a regulator of FDI into the fisheries and agriculture sectors. "In the proposed CMZ, the exclusive right of fishermen living within 500 metres of the coast will be taken away. " Fr. Kocherry said.

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