Picture courtesy: http://www.smh.com.au/
By G Saravanan
Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on May 4, 2010:
CHENNAI: The 2004 tsunami besides killing and rendering millions homeless also wrecked the livelihood of countless fishermen.
In fact, about 140 owners, who had lost their mechanised boats to the tsunami, have appealed to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to help them get their legitimate compensation - money that has been lying idle in different banks for more than two years now.
The list of 140 people constitutes owners of mechanised boats, enumerated in the second list of tsunami-affected fishermen.
In the first list, catalogued immediately after the tsunami in 2004, about 2,715 fishermen and boat owners were listed as beneficiaries and all of them had received compensation almost instantly.
Speaking to Express, K Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association (SIFWA), said, “After repeated requests from various fishermen associations with regard to missing beneficiaries, the State government had prepared a second list of owners who had lost their boats either partially or fully in the tsunami and these 140 mechanised boat owners formed part of that list.”
Though the verification drive to ascertain the truth regarding their damage claim was over and cheques to disburse Rs 5 lakh as tsunami subsidy (along with a bank loan grant of Rs 15 lakh per owner) was distributed way back in 2008, all of them were left still holding the cheques as banks refused to accept their claims citing technical reasons, Bharathi said.
Improper repayment
“When we enquired with the banks, they said that most of the fishermen whose names were found in the first list and who had received their subsidy amounts and bank loans had not yet repaid their dues on time and hence it had forced them to hold back the distribution of loans”, he added.
The appeal to the Chief Minister was meant to draw his attention to the sorry plight of these 140 mechanised boat owners, who had now been forced to work as labourers in different fishing trawlers, to eke out a living.
In fact, about 140 owners, who had lost their mechanised boats to the tsunami, have appealed to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to help them get their legitimate compensation - money that has been lying idle in different banks for more than two years now.
The list of 140 people constitutes owners of mechanised boats, enumerated in the second list of tsunami-affected fishermen.
In the first list, catalogued immediately after the tsunami in 2004, about 2,715 fishermen and boat owners were listed as beneficiaries and all of them had received compensation almost instantly.
Speaking to Express, K Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association (SIFWA), said, “After repeated requests from various fishermen associations with regard to missing beneficiaries, the State government had prepared a second list of owners who had lost their boats either partially or fully in the tsunami and these 140 mechanised boat owners formed part of that list.”
Though the verification drive to ascertain the truth regarding their damage claim was over and cheques to disburse Rs 5 lakh as tsunami subsidy (along with a bank loan grant of Rs 15 lakh per owner) was distributed way back in 2008, all of them were left still holding the cheques as banks refused to accept their claims citing technical reasons, Bharathi said.
Improper repayment
“When we enquired with the banks, they said that most of the fishermen whose names were found in the first list and who had received their subsidy amounts and bank loans had not yet repaid their dues on time and hence it had forced them to hold back the distribution of loans”, he added.
The appeal to the Chief Minister was meant to draw his attention to the sorry plight of these 140 mechanised boat owners, who had now been forced to work as labourers in different fishing trawlers, to eke out a living.
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