Seafood Industry in deep waters

KOCHI: Chamber of Kerala Seafood Industry has urged the Union government to incorporate peeling shed labour as part of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. This, according to the Chamber, will fill the huge shortage of labourers faced in the peeling shed industryTo make their stand clear, the various labour unions have called a strike from the  Kollam to Munambam sector on Tuesday and all the activities under the Seafood processing will be brought to a hold.Also, a protest march will be held to the MPEDA office in Kochi on Tuesday. “The Union government should consider this step urgently as it is one of the only measures to save the industry from a downfall,” said V P Hamid, president of the Chamber of Kerala Seafood Industry and chairman of the Samyuktha Samara Samithi.“The peeling sector was doing fine till two years ago. Once the MGNREGA scheme came into effect in Kerala, thousands of our labourers started working under the scheme which included canal cleaning and other odd jobs at its disposal. If the government incorporates the peeling shed work under the MGNREGA, there will be a huge section of people who will come forward to do our work,” he added.According to P K Nasser, president of the Seafood Commission agents association, the proposal was put up with the Union government stating that if peeling shed is incorporated into the MGNREGA scheme, they were willing to pay the peeling shed labourers extra in addition to the daily wages under the MGNREGA. “The shortage of staff forced the close down of many peeling sheds across the state. Only such initiatives can save the industry which brings at least `11,000 crore annually,” he added.The Chamber of Kerala Seafood Industry officials cited that when the coir, cashewnut and agricultural sector faced a huge downfall in the past, it were marine export businesses who played the saviour. “Both the Central and the State government should do their best to save this sector as it is one of the backbones of the seafood industry,” he said.