Abstract:
Social Security is achieved when deprivation or vulnerability is
reduced or removed as a result of using social means, thereby, in the
process, making lives and livelihoods more secure. However, provision
of such social security measures is influenced by various supply and
demand factors. This paper attempts to explain the provision of social
security in the fisheries sector of Kerala State in south India. It enumerates
the salient achievements and the problems faced by the state in providing
concrete social security measures for fishworkers. They were a section
of Kerala society that was initially left out of the development process.
The study also shows how netting them back into the mainstream was
not only the result of enlightened state policy, but also, the result of the
collective action by the fishworkers themselves. Finally, the paper reflects
on what more needs to be done to further improve the standard of living
of the fishing communities in Kerala and to streamline the delivery of
social security.
