Worli fishers on hunger strike to protest delay in registration

Twenty-five fishers from the area have been attempting to organise themselves under the banner since at June 2019

Mumbai Five fishermen operating from Lotus Jetty in Worli began an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan, on Monday, to protest a three-year-long delay by the fisheries department in registering their fish workers’ cooperative, Vanchit Machhimar Haji Ali Sahkari Sangathana Maryadit (VMHASSM).

hey allege that the fisheries department has not formally recognised them, despite all requisite paperwork being completed (BHushan Koyande)

Twenty-five fishers from the area have been attempting to organise themselves under the banner since at June 2019. They allege that the fisheries department has not formally recognised them, despite all requisite paperwork being completed.

Sanjay Baikar, resident of Worli Koliwada, founder and secretary of the VMHASSM -- and one of the five members participating in the ongoing hunger strike -- claimed that after initially submitting their proposal to the fisheries department in June 2019, it took 15 months of repeated follow-ups for the latter to close out the requisite paperwork, though the process to register new co-ops as per the Maharashtra Co-Operative Societies Act should not extend beyond six months.

“We are a group of poor fishermen whose livelihoods have been badly hit by the coastal road project. By registering ourselves as a society, we will be able to request the fisheries department for certain facilities at Lotus Jetty, like running water, lights and a shed to mend our boats. This will improve our daily lives. We will also be protected in the case of natural disasters. Three boats from Lotus Jetty were completely destroyed during Cyclone Tauktae but we didn’t receive any compensation because there is no society to represent us,” Baikar said.

Alahuddin Sheikh, another founding member of the VMHASSM, also explained that fishers at Lotus Jetty currently are not able to avail of diesel subsidies given by the fisheries department.

“Most of us have individual ID cards and licences to fish, but without being part of a registered society, we have to pay full price for diesel. Society members get subsidies of up to ₹9 per litre, on at least 300 litres every month. This could make a huge improvement to our earnings. I have made at least 200 visits to the department in the last three years but to no avail.”

Despite efforts by HT, Mahesh Devre, additional commissioner of fisheries, Mumbai, could not be contacted for a comment.

An officer working at the district level in Mumbai city, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that there have been repeated changes in the department’s administrative structure over the last year-and-a-half, which could have led to the prolonged delay.

“There have been two changes in the assistant commissioner’s position, and one change in the additional commissioner’s position since March 2021. All proposals seeking to register new fisher societies need to go through them,” the official said.