Shah's annual payout of Rs 6,000 for fishermen if BJP voted to power in Bengal

His eagerness to reach out to the 2-lakh-plus community members was evident from his decision to lunch at a fish trader's residence in Kakdwip

Amit Shah in South 24-Parganas on Thursday.: Telegraph picture

Snehamoy Chakraborty   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |   19.02.21:  Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday promised an annual payout of Rs 6,000 for fishermen if the BJP is voted to power in Bengal, hurting the pride of at least a section of fisherfolk who later said the rising diesel prices were undermining their toil to earn a living.

“After forming the government in Bengal, we will launch a Machhuare Samman Nidhi Yojana from which four lakh fishermen of Bengal will get Rs 6,000 annually just like (farmers do from) the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana,” Shah told a rally at Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas.

Shah’s eagerness to reach out to the 2-lakh-plus fishing community members in the district was evident from his decision to lunch at the home of Subrata Biswas, a fish trader at Narayanpur village in Kakdwip.

Later, some members of the fishing community told The Telegraph that they would be happy to earn their livelihood and not depend on government dole. Instead they wanted the Centre to contain the rise in diesel prices so that they could venture into the sea on their trawlers.

Diesel, which cost Rs 66.79 a litre in February last year, is selling for Rs 83.84 a litre in Calcutta now.

Kamal Das from Kultali in South 24-Parganas said he owned two trawlers but had to halt his trade because of the continuous hike in fuel prices.

“I faced repeated losses and stopped sending out trawlers since last November because of the high price of diesel. To earn Rs 55,000 by selling fish, I need to burn fuel worth Rs 1.2 lakh. I cannot afford that. I had taken a loan of Rs 36 lakh from the market and around 40 people worked for me. They have either left for Kerala or are sitting idle with no income,” Kamal said.

“What good will the government do by promising adequate prices for our produce if we can’t catch fish because of the high price of diesel?” asked Kamal, who has spent 38 years in the trade.

Hiralal Das, 48, who used to work for Kamal, said if Shah took the initiative to reduce the price of diesel, it would have helped more than the promised dole. “I earned Rs 40,000 a month by catching fish. But I have been unemployed for the past four months. Will an annual dole of Rs 6,000 help?” asked Hiralal.

Shah had said a BJP government would set up a dedicated department within the state fisheries department to ensure adequate prices for the catch.

Subrata, who hosted a lunch for Shah on Thursday, later said that his business was not doing well but he could not tell the “big man” about it.

The rising fuel prices have become a talking point across the country, prompting many citizens to dig out the barbs Narendra Modi and his supporters used to aim at the government when he was in the Opposition. The backlash has reached such a level that the Prime Minister was compelled on Wednesday to indirectly blame his predecessors for failing to reduce the dependency on imports.

Joykrishna Haldar, general secretary of the West Bengal United Fishermen Association that represents 64 unions across Bengal, put matters in perspective.

“We don’t need a dole. Fishermen work hard and are happy to earn a living. The rising price of diesel has become an impediment and the Centre should subsidise the fuel. Almost 90 per cent of trawlers have stopped venturing into the sea because of the high diesel price. Thousands of fishermen sit at home; they have no income,” Haldar said.

Fishermen are planning a demonstration in Calcutta on February 22 against the rising fuel prices.

The association said it had written thrice since the lockdown to Modi and Shah about fishermen’s problems and that its members felt let down as there was no mention of these issues on Thursday.

Diesel prices apart, the association wants the Centre to lift the prohibition on the export of crabs and fish that had been imposed during the lockdown.

Shah assured the fishing community that the BJP’s paribortan yatra would bring an end to the practice of fishermen being shaken down for bribes.

“This yatra is to stop the practice of exacting bribes from fishermen brothers,” he said.

Sources in the fisheries department said around 4.2 lakh people in the state were directly involved in fishing in rivers and seas, mainly from South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas, East Midnapore and Howrah. Around 6 lakh people depend indirectly on fishing in the state.