Fisheries Bill will serve corporates’ interests: Medha
The Hindu
‘Proposed law threatens to take away rights of traditional fish workers’
Social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar has said the Indian Marine Fisheries Bill seeks to further the interests of corporate companies similar to the contentious farm laws that have been been repealed by the Centre.
Speaking at a remembrance meet organised by the T. Peter Memorial Trust, in memory of the late coastal community leader, at Veliaveli on Saturday, Ms. Patkar said the proposed law threatened to take away the rights of traditional fish workers. It also did not take cognizance of women who were the real marketeers in the fisheries sector. By promoting Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), the Bill threatened to widen inequities that existed in society.
“The Bill is being pushed in a manner of the farm laws without considering the power and authority that is granted to State governments in the federal structure by the Constitution. The Centre is hell-bent on privatising the fisheries sector. Such activities are being promoted without holding consultations with the fish workers’ community,” she alleged, exhorting the section to challenge the law with the “greatest possible force” similar to the “battle” fought by the farmers.