(a) whether the fishermen community in Kerala have submitted any memorandum regarding their demands recently;
(b) if so, the action taken in this regard;
(c) whether there is a demand to build fish ice storage in Kerala; and
(d) if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (DR DEBENDRA PRADHAN)
(a): Yes Sir, the Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation State Committee had submitted a memorandum regarding demands of traditional fishermen of Kerala to the Government of Kerala in March, 2000.
(b): The Minister for Fisheries, Government of Kerala had conveyed a meeting with the representatives of Federation on 5.6.2000; and the following decisions were taken:
i). To initiate action for importing Kerosene oil, and for its distribution to fishermen through Kerala State Co-operative Federation for Fisheries Development Ltd. (Matsyafed);
ii) Distribution of pension arrears to fishermen at an early date;
iii) Preparation of model projects so that the saving-cum-relief scheme for fisherwomen could be included in the local plan for benefiting fisherwomen;
iv) Renovation of the retail fish markets under Grama Panchayats for which an amount of Rs.4 lakh per market has been allotted by the State Government.
v) Extend the scope of saving-cum-relief scheme to fisherwomen after detailed discussion with the Central Government. The comments of the State Government have been requested by the Central Government on this subject.
(c) &(d): Matsyafed has established a sold storage Plant at Cochin with an installed capacity of 600 tonnes. Besides, it has taken over the defunct ice plants and cold storages from State Department of Fisheries for renovation, and for establishment of more storage facilities.