Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi has endorsed the demand of the Latin Catholic Church for forming a separate Ministry at the Centre to manage the fisheries sector.
During his visit to the fishing hamlets of Poonthura and Vizhinjam on Thursday, Mr. Gandhi said that both the farming and fishing communities in the country were in the midst of difficult times.
“The conditions of fishermen are similar to that of farmers. However, while a Ministry function to oversee the agriculture sector and look after the interests of farmers, the fishing community remains neglected. The Congress is committed to the need for forming a Ministry to ensure the protection of fishermen and upholding their interests,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi also stressed the need to learn from the tragedy and to adopt steps for the safety of fishermen who struggled to make a livelihood.
“I understand the struggles of fishermen, who lead difficult lives and face immense difficulty every day. Every now and then, the community faces a tragedy like this. It is important to learn from the situation, whether it is the government in the State or Centre. Everybody must learn and try to improve the situation for the future. We have to build a better system for warning our fishermen before they go out to the sea,” he said.
He added that the Congress would strive to ensure that the governments provided adequate compensation to all those who suffered losses in the calamity.
During his visit to Poonthura, Mr. Gandhi accepted a memorandum submitted by Justin Jude, priest of the St. Thomas Church.
Besides reiterating the demands for a Ministry exclusively for the sector and for declaring the calamity as a national disaster, Fr. Jude said the fish workers of the region had been neglected by both the Central and State governments.
Mr. Gandhi was accompanied by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president M.M. Hassan, Shashi Tharoor and K.C. Venugopal, MPs, V.S. Sivakumar and M. Vincent, MLAs, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mukul Wasnik, and District Congress Committee president Neyyattinkara Sanal.
