Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday witnessed claims, counter-claims and mutual accusations of the treasury and opposition benches in the House over the plight of the fishermen community, especially in view of the current trawling ban in the state.
The CPI(M)-led LDF alleged that the amounts from the savings-cum-relief scheme were not being paid on time to the fishermen and various other welfare projects initiated for them by the previous Left government were not being taken forward by the current administration.
Moving a notice for adjournment, CPI(M) leader Saji Cherian contended that fishermen were struggling to eke out a living during the 52-day-long trawling ban from June 10 to July 31 and urged the government to take urgent measures to address their plight.
He also contended that the Left government had increased the benefit under the saving-cum-relief scheme to Rs 6,000, but the current government was still disbursing the previous amount of Rs 4,500.
He also claimed that only the amount contributed by fishermen under the scheme has been paid to them and the state and Centre's matching shares have not been distributed.
Refuting the claims, Fisheries Minister V E Abdul Gafoor said that the first instalment of Rs 1,500 under the scheme -- the contribution by the fishermen -- has been distributed in three districts.
The contributions of the state and Centre are usually paid in the July and August months and will be disbursed accordingly, the minister said.
He also said that the previous government increased the benefit under the scheme to Rs 6,000 "while it was on its way out" and it can be disbursed only after contributions in accordance with that are collected this year from the fishermen, while there is no surety that the Centre will increase its share from the earlier Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000.
The minister said that directions have been issued to provide free ration to the fishermen families and the government was doing everything possible for them, as it increased the kerosene subsidy to Rs 75 right after coming to power.
Besides that, it was also considering various projects for safety and rescue of fishermen, he said and added that there was no need to adjourn the House to discuss the issue as sought by the opposition.
Supporting the stand taken by the minister, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said that despite the government cutting its planned expenditure in the budget by around Rs 5,000 crore, it made additional allocations for the SC/ST and fishermen communities so that they are not affected.
Satheesan also hit out at the opposition, saying that the Rs 2,000 crore Okhi package announced by the previous Left administration was never implemented and a nominal amount was spent out of the Rs 5,000 crore package it had announced for the fishermen community.
The CM further said that the Oommen Chandy government gave a Rs 25 subsidy on kerosene when its price was Rs 40, but during the 10-year Left rule, not a single rupee was increased despite the price rising to over Rs 100.
"Just before the elections, while they were on their way out, they (LDF) increased the subsidy to Rs 50. But, we increased it to Rs 75 right after coming to power," he contended.
As the Speaker denied permission to the notice moved by Cherian in view of the stand taken by the minister and CM, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state government appeared to be shirking its responsibility towards the fishermen.
He contended that payments under the savings-cum-relief scheme should not be delayed by awaiting central funds and claimed that everywhere there was neglect towards the fishermen by the current administration.
Vijayan said that many of the schemes initiated by the previous government for fishermen find no mention in the revised budget, creating anxiety among the fishing community.
He alleged that the state government was not taking steps to provide the amounts under the savings-cum-relief scheme on time and said that the opposition was staging a walkout in protest against the same.