P. Ramyalakshmi, assistant director, fisheries, Cuddalore, hides an iron fist in a velvet glove.
The recipient of the Tamil Nadu Government’s Kalpana Chawla Award 2019 showed exemplary courage and daring enterprise in taking on the illegal practice of purse seine fishing that is not only depriving traditional fishermen of catch but threatening the marine ecosystem as a whole in the region.
The Kalpana Chawla Award consists of ₹5 lakh cash and a medal. And her success in Cuddalore is inspiring similar interventions in other coastal belts.
Ms. Ramyalakshmi, who joined the department as a trainee AD (direct recruitment) in 2017, had soon thereafter been at the forefront of efforts to enforce the ban on purse seine fishing which was still being employed by 500 fishermen from about 10 villages.