IMPHAL, Sept 5 NNN: The Movement for Tribal People’s Rights, Manipur (MTPRM) has now expressed concerned for fish farmers of Manipur and urged the government to continue with its assistance to the fish farmers.
MTPRM said it has learnt that benefits in the form of subsidies to the fish farmers under National Fisheries Development (NFDB), the only central fund out of 106 possible central funding sources, have been totally stopped for a period of nearly three years.
It is also learnt that only 263 fish farmers were benefited while more than 150 beneficiaries were kept on the backlog, said the tribal rights body.
“These tantamount to discrepancy and partiality. It is also anomaly to replace an efficient state project co-ordinator who could earn special central package under NFDB by someone who could not continue to avail the same and meted out partiality and deprivation of funds to the fish farmers out of incompetency.
These rampant discrepancies and anomalies are happening on the behest of the present Director of State Fisheries Department,” the MTPRM stated.
It therefore, demanded for the immediate removal of the State Fisheries Director and State Fisheries Project Co-ordinator and replace them with the competent and officials who can rise up to the occasion and bring glories in the Fisheries Department of Manipur State at the earliest. “We are also compelled to forewarn that failure to rectify the same in a prompt manner by the State authority shall invite stringent reactions with all sorts of intense democratic movements calling upon our hill and valley comrades,” the tribal rights body cautions.
The MTPRM then said it endorses the recent statement of the Tangkhul Katamnao Long, Imphal (TKLI) in the matter.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/mtprm-urges-government-to-look-after-fisher/