Malpe: Members of all Fishermen’s Association staged a demonstration along with Padayatra (protest march) from the Malpe harbour to the Udupi Taluk office on Tuesday, August 4.
Shops were closed in Malpe from 9 am to 12 noon. Around 10,000 fishermen including boat operators and owners, fishermen, coolie workers, fish traders, fisherwomen, tempo drivers and auto rickshaw drivers from Malpe participated in the protest march.
Hiriyanna T. Kediyoor, president of Malpe Fishermen’s Association, said, “We are opposing the State government’s new system of direct transfer of sales tax refund to the bank accounts as subsidy.”
“This system is a loss for us, there is a chance that we might get subsidy late and we can’t survive as boat owners”, he added.
He also said that though the new fishing season begins on August 1, the fishermen have decided not to venture into the sea until August 5, this might draw the government’s attention towards this issue, he said.
Yashpal Suvarna said that they are submitting a memorandum to the chief secretary through the Deputy Commissioner. “We expect that the government will withdraw the new system immediately. If not a larger protest will be organized’, he added
The fishermen of other fisheries’ harbours were also present and supported the protest.