MARGAO, JULY 29
Just three days to go for the new fishing season to begin on August 1, mechanised boat owners keep their fingers crossed over the availability of work force on time.
Labour from the States of Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar are coming only in trickles to the fishing jetty so far. And, if the President of the Cutbona Boat Owners Union, Antonio Rodrigues is to be believed, hardly 30 per cent of the required work force has descended at the fishing jetties.
That anxious owners of mechanised vessels are making repeated rounds at the Margao railway station, hoping that labour from the eastern states would arrive by train is not uncommon these days.
In fact, some of the owners are even believed to be maintaining a vigil at the railway station to prevent “poaching” of the migrant labour heading to the jetties.
Says Antonio Rodrigues: “Right now, only around 30 per cent of the workers have reported in the state. We expect and hope the remaining workers would report at the jetties right on time”.
Though the delay in the arrival of the manpower is remains unknown, boat owners say that some of the labour has got gainful employment in factories set up up in their native states. Other say the labour would hit the state only after they complete the agricultural operations back home.
A trawler owner, Kennedy Alemao, says that his workers from Daman have reported for work this season. He, however, said that nearly 70 per cent of the workers are yet to report till date.
Goa’s mechanised fishing industry is entirely dependent on the migrant work force, who are employed as Khalashis on the fishing vessels. “Only a small percentage of workers such as Aryamen and mastmen hail from Goa. The requirement of khalashis is met mostly by the migrant labour”, Kennedy added.
Incidentally, the government has this year made it mandatory for mechanised boat owners to provide life jackets for the crew employed on the fishing vessels. This measure comes against the backdrop of last year’s cyclone which claimed the lives of around 67 crew members employed on the fishing vessels.
