New Delhi, 5 October 2020: On Monday, Maritime Union of India (MUI) sought CSR funds of 12 major ports of the country for the purpose of strengthening maritime training infrastructure. The country’s 12 major ports include Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Kolkata (including Haldia), reported a news agency.
In the statement, MUI said, "India’s oldest union of merchant navy officers, the Maritime Union of India (MUI) has sought CSR support from 12 major ports of India to strengthen the country’s maritime training infrastructure."
Last month, the lower house of the parliament passed the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 which intends to offer greater autonomy to 12 major ports in decision-making.
The news agency PTI quoted MUI General Secretary Amar Singh Thakur saying, "The Bill provides that every major port’s board may use its CSR funds for providing various social benefits, including skill development. We urge these ports to spend a sizeable amount of CSR funds in upgrading maritime skills of Indian seafarers in the years to come."
As per the body, the new bill passed by the Lok Sabha explicitly mentions that benefits of CSR could be provided to employees of the port’s board. It also includes customers, business partners, local communities , environment etc in the possible new beneficiaries list of CSR, so the major ports of India should also offer CSR support to skilling initiatives aimed at increasing the global share of Indian seafarers, it said.
Thakur was quoted saying, "Since the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 will apply to the major ports of Chennai, Cochin, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Kandla, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Paradip, V.O. Chidambaranar and Visakhapatnam; the huge corpus of CSR funds will prove to be extremely beneficial for all seafarers residing across various states of India."
Among the other demands of the MUI, focusing on supporting Indian women who are keen on becoming world-class merchant navy officers, was also included. This specific demand was based on the fact that women are a minuscule part of the shipboard workforce. Even the global organisations like the International Maritime Organisation and International Transport Workers’ Federation have emphasized over the inclusion of more women in the industry.
