A Pension in Fish - India

Discussion with all the villagers preceeded community participation & action in a fishing programme with boat-building & product sales, giving the elderly a nutritional "pension in fish".

Ageing, Population, Economic Development, Nutrition

A cyclone & subsequent tidal wave destroyed many villages, homes, fishing boats & equipment. Rather than give relief money to elderly village members who had no means of productivity, a longer-term solution was agreed upon in the village of Pallegallem (after necessary village reconstruction). The fishing boats destroyed were a raft-type design which the elders said could be reproduced using a specific type of wood, available only from the distant Kerala. Money was used to purchase & transport enough logs & rope to make 30 rafts, each carrying 3 fishermen. "The 90 or so fishermen then entered into a contract to own the new boats as a cooperative, sharing the profits...each boat would donate 2 kilos of fish to the elderly & disabled". Surplus fish collected by the elderly were sold in nearby villages for additional income. "The shore villages still operated on a part-barter part-cash basis" & provided a 'pension' in nutritional fish, while inviting elder village members to take an active role in the community.