A nine member delegation from the women wing of Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) met the Hon’ble Fisheries Minister of West Bengal Sri Chandranath Sinha on 20th December 2018. Led by the Convener of women wing of DMF Jharna Acharya, DMF Vice-President Tapasi Dolui and Adviser Shilpa Nandy, the delegation demanded a special comprehensive package of assistance for women fish workers that would include financial, infrastructure and social security support for different categories of women fish workers like fishers, fish farmers, fish sorters and dryers, fish vendors, net makers etc. The delegation also demanded that women fish workers should get priority in all general schemes provided for the benefit of fish workers since women constitute a substantial but weaker part of fish workers. The delegation also submitted in writing that the demands that had been put forward by their first deputation to the Hon’ble Minister on 21.09.2018 are yet to be met. Though the Hon’ble Minister had assured the earlier delegation that at least 20%of their demands would be made, precious little has been done on the ground. Only a very small number (7) of women fish workers were given some assistance through the fisheries department office at Diamond Harbour.The Hon’ble Minister was briefed of the miserable condition of ‘Tiger Widows’ by DMF organiser Koushalya Mondal, herself a tiger widow. Speedy compensation, respectable widow pension and proper rehabilitation were the demands put forward by the delegation. The delegation also told the Hon’ble Minister that though he had asked the members of the first women delegation to meet him again in two months, they could not get any appointment in spite of repeatedly seeking the same over phone or in writing.The Hon’ble Minister was non-committal on the demands for policy changes. Instead, he asked for lists of women fish workers with their requirements from every district where DMF works and promised to provide the same within April 2019. He did not commit any assistance to the tiger widows either and advised the delegation to approach the Chief Minister for the same. Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum welcomes the offer of assistance to the women fish workers made by the Hon’ble Minister and will definitely furnish the Fisheries Department with a district wise list of women fish workers along with their specific needs for assistance. But, at the same time, DMF resents the insensitivity of the government to gender justice (a principle incorporated in the National Policy for Marine Fisheries) shown in its failure to provide a comprehensive scheme of assistance meant specifically for women fish workers as well as in its reluctance to provide priority to women fish workers in all general benefit schemes for fish workers. DMF also implores the Government of West Bengal’s Department of Fisheries to accept it as its responsibility to see that the widows of tiger victim fishermen of Sundarban lead a decent life with dignity, which is their basic human right.