A One-Day Program on Coastal Community and Coastal Environment Protection has been conducted on 14th November 2019, at Muthupettai, Thiruvarur District. This district-level program contains multiple objectives, namely, i) Educating Fishing Women and Youth, ii) Protecting Coastal Village Ecology, Livelihood, and Economic Development and iii) Access to Government Social Security Schemes. The number of participants is 27 (25 – women, 2 – men), including dignitaries from NABARD, TN Fisheries Department, Directors of HEPSI Rural Development Trust, and many more. The government officials briefed about relevant schemes and programs to the people and clarified their doubts. It was found that due to ignorance, most of the fishers are deprived of government benefits and suffering from financial turmoil. Vijay, Director of Rural Development Trust, revealed the current status of coastal villages and inhabitants near Muthupettai, Thiruvarur District.

A session on Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), government planning and its impact on Fishers’ livelihood, Panchayat and Coastal Village People’s Participation was taken by Sakthivadivel and Chitra (Senior Coordinators, HRF) respectively. Punitha, Senior Coordinator (Trust) gave a speech on women’s status in coastal areas and their day-to-day challenges. Shockingly, women in the coastal areas have no social recognition, no savings as they continuously take loans from MSMEs, and no basic marketing strategies. Finally, Ambika, Senior Coordinator received various suggestions from the floor and concluded the program by giving the vote of thanks.