MALAPPURAM: The currency crunch and the ration crisis have brought misery to around 24,000 fishermen families in the coastal regions. A cut in the kerosene supply has made matters worse in most of the villages along the 60-km-long coastal region. “The fishermen do not earn much these days due to the currency ban. The retail sales have been paralysed and the ration disruption has worsened the situation,” said M. Baputty, state vice-president of Malsya Thozhilali Union (CITU).
The demonetisation was a huge blow to the fishermen and they can’t afford to buy food articles from private shops, he said. According to Ummer Ottummal, state president of Malsya Tozhilali Federation (STU), around 4,000 low-income families are on the verge of starvation. “Neighbours and charity organisations have come to their rescue by supplying foodgrain
and other essentials,” Ummer said.
Around 70 per cent of the fisherfolks are out of the priority list of ration. “We have met the chief minister and ministers for civil supplies and fisheries seeking alternatives to the ration supply,” he said.
