With political parties preparing for next year’s Lok Sabha election, fishermen in the State have urged the government to include them in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST). They say it will help the sea faring and inland fishermen in Tamil Nadu to be able to get reservation in higher education, jobs and in politics. Nanjil Ravi, of the Anaithu Meenavargal Sangam, said there were around 75 lakh fishermen in the State, which was a small number considering the entire population of Tamil Nadu.
“We are currently included as OBCs where we have to compete with 108 other castes. If we get reservation under ST category, we can see more of our people as councillors, MLAs and MPs. During the last election, almost all political parties promised us reservation under the ST category, but those promises remain on paper,” he said.
K. Bharathi, a fishing community leader, said that like hill tribes, their food, gods, culture, traditions and even language were different from other communities. “We also go to the sea like traditional hunters and catch fish. Each village and region has its own tradition and reservation would help protect our heritage. Many of our villages still need improvement when it comes to basic facilities,” he said.
Jackson Pollayil of the Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation said the demand for reservation for workers in the fishing industry had been made at least 40 years ago. “The Mandal Commission report had underlined the need for such a reservation. But our demand remains unheard,” he said, further recalling that in Kerala, during the 1980s protest against trawlers, the then Chief Minister M. Karunakaran had promised reservation for workers on a par with SC/ST. However, that promise was not kept.
Pradip Chatterjee of the National Platform for Small Scale Fishermen said that fishermen in most States had been demanding SC or ST status. “Our stand is that people with fishing as an occupation should be given reservation or facilities and not those claiming to be fishermen but not involved in fishing. Otherwise, since these sections are a majority, they may take away the benefits of reservation,” he pointed out.