Fishermen upset over passport norm http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31811&articlexml=Fishermen-upset-over-passport-norm-28032015005043
The government's move to make passports mandatory for fishermen travelling to international waters has drawn mixed reactions from the fishermen community. On Friday , the external affairs ministry said that the Passport Act, 1967, provides that no person shall depart from, or attempt to depart from India unless he holds a valid passport or travel document.The rule will be in effect from June 1. T Peter, national secretary of the National Fish Workers' Forum said the new rule was draconic. "India's exclusive economic zone extends up to 200 nautical miles, which is around 360km.When they say we need a passport to go beyond that, we would also like to know who would issue the visa. This rule is harassment and we strongly condemn it." As per the gazette notification issued by the government of India in 1968, in view of the functional requirement of seamen's foreign travel, members of the crew and tindals of sailing vessels (holding identity cards or permits, under the Sailing Vessels (Members of Crew) Rules, 1967) were exempted from holding passports before travelling abroad. This provision allowed seamen to travel abroad on the basis of their identity card. Such a rule should also properly define what good it does to fishermen, said Char les George of Kera la Matsya Thozhi lali Aikyavedi (TUCI). "Will it give an assurance that they will not get arrested if they happen to cross borders? Also, there should be a provision to carry a duplicate as we will be going to deep water territory . There is no guarantee that we can keep it safe," he added. "If their aim is to keep a check on vessels travelling abroad, what we need is automated information systems capable of providing information about a ship to other ships and to coastal authorities, not passports," said general secretary of All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators' Association Joseph Xavier Kalappirackal. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
