Date:09/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/09/stories/2008090954840500.htm

Kerala - Kochi

CPI(M) members accused of cornering benefits

Special Correspondent

Government schemes in the fishing sector

KOCHI: The fishing sector trade union of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has alleged that members of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are cornering the benefits of government schemes in the fishing sector.

P. Raju, general secretary of the Kerala State Matsyathozhilali fish worker) Federation, affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), told The Hindu that a huge majority of the beneficiaries of the housing scheme for fish workers were CPI(M) followers. Under this Centre-funded scheme, fish workers without houses were granted Rs.50,000 each for building houses. The committee to select the beneficiaries were packed with CPI(M) members.

As for the Theera Maithri project, which provides fish-carrying vehicles to fish workers’ self-help groups, almost all the beneficiaries are CPI(M) followers, Mr. Raju alleged. The project is paid for from the tsunami funds, but hardly anybody from other political parties have got the benefit of the scheme, he said.

The allegations reflect the increasing tension between the AITUC and the CITU, the trade unions of the two ruling coalition partners. The CPI has been, directly and indirectly, accusing the CPI(M) of having a big-brotherly mindset.

Mr. Raju alleged that the AITUC-affiliated fishing cooperative societies were either being denied or made to wait long to get affiliated to the Matsyafed, the apex body of fishing sector cooperatives. While the affiliation ought to be given within 45 days, the CPI(M)-controlled Matsyafed was making AITUC societies to wait for a year and a half. He said the Matsyafed had got stagnated for five years and there was no useful work going on. Its functioning was non-transparent and it favoured only one side.

Mr. Raju alleged swindling of funds of many schemes. The houses built for fish workers using the tsunami funds were mostly substandard and the roofs of many houses in Alappuzha and Kollam districts leaked. Those complained against this were being threatened.

He said though several projects and schemes had been announced for the fishing sector in the past three or four years, nothing had taken off. Functioning of the fish workers welfare fund had gone off the rails long ago and the workers were not getting any benefits. The debt relief commission for fish workers had not started functioning even after so many months.