Thursday, January 13 2005 11:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Nagapattinam: Homeless fishermen in this Tamil Nadu district, one of the worst hit by killer tidal waves, are like fish out of water when it comes to taking up alternative jobs, leaving women to tread unexplored territory of cooperative and hold the key to livelihood revival.

NGOs as well as Government have realised that efforts at providing alternative employment for fishermen have not met with the desired success.

"We had launched food-for-work programmes for the fishermen here, which include construction of temporary shelters and removal of debris in exchange for food. But to our surprise, only a very few came forward, either due to their aversion or incompetence for any work other than their traditional occupation fishing," Tamil Nadu Rural Development Secretary Santha Seela Nayar said.