Vikassheel Insan Party demands Bihar govt help to fishermen

PATNA: The Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP), led by Mukesh Sahani, has expressed concern over the lack of government assistance to the boatmen, who were facing great hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic and floods in the state.
National vice-president of VIP, Raj Bhushan Nishad, said on Sunday there was no provision of loan from any government agency for nearly 30,000-odd boatmen for making their country boats, which are the only source of survival for the community members.
“The government should pay attention to the plight of the boatmen, who come to the rescue of marooned people in several districts in north and eastern Bihar during floods every year. They ply their boats in rivers, tributaries and water reservoirs on their own,” Nishad said.
Nishad, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarpur, said over a dozen districts such as Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Begusarai, Khagaria, Madhubani and Samastipur have a sizeable population of fishermen.
“They have virtually been pushed to the brink of poverty. They didn’t get any financial help from the government. Several families were managing to survive by doing other jobs. But majority of them were still engaged in their traditional occupation,” he added.
He, however, admitted that the cooperative society for fishermen has provided some financial assistance to some boatmen but that is like a drop in the ocean. “Since fisheries have come under the agriculture department, the losses to fishermen should be compensated by the government as farmers,” the VIP leader said.
The ponds and chaurs (water reservoir) were auctioned by the government. However, a number of families had to face huge financial losses due to floods as fish were washed away, he added.
State agriculture minister Prem Kumar couldn’t be contacted for his comments despite repeated attempts.