REPORTS - BOBP/REP/27
Activating Fisherwomen for Development through Trained Link Workers in Tamil Nadu, India
by
E. Drewes
Socio-economist Bay of Bengal Programme
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REPORTS - BOBP/REP/27 Activating Fisherwomen for Development through Trained Link Workers in Tamil Nadu, Indiaby |
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Executing Agency: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Funding Agency : SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Development of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Bay of Bengal. Madras, India, May 1986. |
| The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. |
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© FAO 2004
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This document is the report of a BOBP-assisted pilot project on improving the socio-economic conditions of women from fishing communities of Tamil Nadu. The strategy adopted was group action among fisherwomen led by trained “link workers”. They were to serve as links between the villages and the government, and try to ensure that all available welfare and subsidy schemes for fisherwomen, government and private, were extended to their villages. A proposal for statewide expansion of the link worker scheme, formulated at government request, is part of the paper. Also included as an Appendix is a fairly detailed case-study of the efforts undertaken by the link workers, the problems encountered and the results obtained in a single village - Chemmencheri. The activities reported in the paper were carried out between 1981 and 1984. On behalf of BOBP, a socioeconomist was responsible for project activities. Two Deputy Directors of Fisheries from the Government of Tamil Nadu, MS Freda Chandrasekaran and Ms. Mekala Devadoss, were the main government counterparts. Two social workers engaged by BOBP, MS N. Valli and Ms. R. Veronica, two government extension officers, Ms. D. Bee and Ms. R. Meenakshi, and 21 link workers from the fishing villages, supervised field work. Excellent cooperation was extended by the Natesan Cooperative Training College, Madras, and by its Principal, ‘Mr Rajaram, in conducting a course for fisherwomen on management of cooperatives. |
SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
2. ASSESSING THE PRESENT ROLES OF FISHERWOMEN
3. ANALYSIS OF POSSIBILITIES OF IMPROVING INCOMES
4. THE CONCEPT OF “LINK WORKERS”
5. TRAINING NEEDS OF LINK WORKERS
6. SELECTING FISHERWOMEN FOR THE TRAINING COURSE
- PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN PICTURES
7. CONDUCT OF THE TRAINING COURSE
8. IMPACT OF THE LINK WORKERS’ TRAINING
8.1 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISHERWOMEN’S COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES
8.2 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FISHERWOMEN UNDER THE DIFFERENTIAL RATE OF INTEREST SCHEME (DRI)
8.3 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FISHERWOMEN UNDER IRDP
8.4 SOCIAL SERVICES FOR FISHERWOMEN AND CHILDREN
9. FURTHER TRAINING FOR FISHERWOMEN LINK WORKERS
1O. OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE PROJECT
11. REFERENCES
APPENDICES
1. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
2. PILOT PROJECT TO CREATE ADDITIONAL INCOMES THROUGH HAND-BRAIDING OF NETS
3. CASE-STUDY - CHEMMENCHERI
4. COSTS OF A MINI BUS FOR TRANSPORT OF WOMEN FISH TRADERS TO MARKETS
5. PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR STATEWIDE EXPANSION OF THE LINK WORKER SCHEME
6. MAP : LOCATION OF THE PROJECT AREA
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