Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac on Friday became the fourth member of Kerala’s CPI(M)-led LDF Cabinet to face the ire of fisherfolk of Thiruvananthapuram, whose kin and relatives were trapped in the sea in large numbers following Cyclone Ockhi. Scores of fisherwomen blocked Isaac at fishing hamlet Adimalathura when he reached there to explain the relief and rehabilitation package announced by the Government.
“You have announced Rs 60 for majors and Rs 45 for minors a day for families that have been orphaned by the cyclone. How are we going to live on such paltry allowance? Every family should be given a minimum of Rs 500 a day,” said a fisherwoman, while another shouted at him, “Nine days have passed since the cyclone. Where were you all these days?”
Stating that there was nothing unusual about their protest and anger, the Finance Minister agreed to enhance the relief assistance in consultation with fishermen’s associations. “Your demands will be looked into. The Government has already sanctioned Rs 31 crore. Let us disburse it first and we will certainly review the relief package,” he said. “We have seen the entire Government machinery – of the State and Centre – going into activity on a war footing when something happens to certain sections. They would be given good care, medical facilities and even blankets. But why doesn’t this happen in the case of the poor fishermen’s families?” asked Sophia, a fisherwoman from Adimalathura.
The protests at Adimalathura forced Isaac to drop his plan to visit other fishing hamlets like Vizhinjam and Poonthura. Dozens of fishermen who had gone to sea from these hamlets for fishing just before the cyclone hit Kerala on November 30 were yet to return and the Government was still clueless even about the number of the missing fishermen.
Angry fishermen had blocked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Vizhinjam when he had reached there on a visit on December 3. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who is in charge of the rescue operations for Thiruvananthapuram district.