Meet Govindamma Velu, An Elderly Prawn-Catcher In Tamil Nadu Struggling To Make Ends Meet

Govindamma Velu, of advanced but uncertain age (somewhere between 70 to 77), belongs to the Irular community, which is listed as Scheduled Tribe in Tamil Nadu. She used to live close to Kamarajar Port (formerly Ennore Port) in Chennai, near the Kosasthalaiyar river where she works as a prawns catcher. However, a tsunami in 2004 destroyed her hut. A year after that, she moved to Athipattu town, 10 kilometres away, in the Tiruvallur district.

Velu says she has been working for as long as she remembers, tracing back to her childhood. She currently works in the Buckingham Canal area, the one that runs parallel to the Kosasthalaiyar river in Ennore, a locality in north Chennai extending into the neighbouring Tiruvallur district. Swimming underwater, she catches prawns with bare hands, for a meagre 200 rupees income, somedays 500, on most days she hardly makes 100, and sometimes nothing at all.

Govindamma, who has to make a tedious long journey to work every day, is also struggling with deteriorating eyesight. She ventures out to work at night on days when the tide is very high in the morning after the water level recedes. Despite her poor eyesight, she finds it easy to catch prawns in the dark. But water snakes, and grey eel catfish, in particular, scare her. “I cannot see properly…I don’t know what touches my feet…whether it is a snake or net,” she tells PARI.

The Ennore-Manali industrial area surrounding the Buckingham Canal houses at least 34 large hazardous industries, including thermal power plants, petrochemical and fertiliser factories. The industrial waste polluting the water bodies here has been depleting marine resources. Local fishermen say they get only 2-3 prawn varieties now as compared to 6-7 two decades ago.

Govindamma sits down to take a sip of water near the Buckingham Canal | PHOTO • M. PALANI KUMAR

The depletion of prawns in the sea also worries Govindamma and puts a dent in her livelihood. Moreover, the disposal of waste in the water has compounded her health problems, but she is worried about her family. The lives of Govindamma’s children too are dependent on this river. Her daughter is married to an alcoholic, who doesn’t do any proper job. Sellayya, her elder son, who was 45 when he died, also used to catch prawns to support his family.

The proportion of working senior citizens (age 60 and above) is higher in the villages of India than in the cities, found the first Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (LASI) released in January, 2021. The survey conducted in 2017-18 on over 70,000 individuals above the age of 45 years found that 40 per cent of senior citizens in rural areas were working compared to 26 per cent in urban areas. This indicates that the rural elderly continue to work in the agriculture sector beyond the age of 60 years.

Ageing is inevitable and comes with complications that affect the economic and social dispositions of older adults, among other things. The elderly work more out of compulsion rather to support basic needs than choice. This is majorly evident in socio-economically vulnerable groups.

Ample discussions surround the topic of India’s demographic dividend. The country is at a peculiar stage in its demographic transition, characterised by a bulge in its youth population, which can be a window of opportunity to accelerate growth. However, a parallelly occurring phenomenon that requires equal attention with regard to India’s economic growth trajectory is rapid ageing.

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As India experiences a demographic transition that holds the promise of economic abundance, our policymakers need to look both closer and beyond the demographic dividend. In addition to taking steps to ensure the well-being of the elderly today and in the coming decades, policymakers need to make provisions for easing the fiscal challenges it entails.

Govindamma Velu's story first appeared in People Archive of Rural India (PARI)