People's Democracy

Campaign By All India Fishers And Fisheries Workers’ Federation

THE fishers, including a large number of women engaged in the fishing sector in jobs such as vending, fish processing, and other jobs participated in large numbers in the All India Demands’ Day on April 18, which was jointly observed by the CITU, AIKS, and AIAWU. The participation of fishers in the All India Demands’ Day on May 15, the call for which was given by the first conference of the All India Fishers and Fisheries Workers’ Federation was also impressive in West Bengal, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu etc. The Demands’ Day, which was being observed for the first time on an all India basis created much enthusiasm among the fishers.

This was informed by the members of the national committee of the All India Fishers and Fisheries Workers’ Federation, which met in Visakhapatnam on July 11, 2007. Pitabasan Das, president of the Federation presided over the meeting, which was attended by members representing Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Tripura, and West Bengal.

The meeting finalised the flag of the federation, which will be red in colour with AIFFWF, the initials of the federation written in white on the pole side of the flag and a white fish in the centre. The national committee also finalised the charter of demands and the constitution after taking into consideration the suggestions made in the conference.

The national committee of AIFFWF decided to conduct a wide campaign on the charter of demands and collect at least 3 lakh signatures on a memorandum to the agricultural minister, highlighting the major demands of the fishers. The objective would be to approach all the fishers irrespective of their affiliations or beliefs. The memorandum will be submitted to the union minister in the coming month of October.

The national committee also decided to collect all the details of the impact of the neo-liberal policies on the fishers and fisheries workers in the country, prepare a note, and organise conventions and seminars to highlight these. It has decided to complete the membership – as per the quotas taken by different states in the conference – by September/October of this year. It has decided to extend solidarity to the other sections of the unorganised sector workers who were going on strike on August 8, 2007.

A convention was organised by the Left parties in Visakhapatnam to observe the 30 years’ rule by the Left Front government in West Bengal, which was addressed by Abdur Razzak Molla, vice president of the federation and minister for land reforms in the LF government of West Bengal.