Over the past five years, the Central government has approved project proposals to the tune of Rs 897.55 crores for the development of fisheries in Tamil Nadu, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala said on Monday.
The Minister was answering an unstarred question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi NVN Somu on funds allocated for schemes in Tamil Nadu.
Also, Rupala said the Centre’s share of Rs 252.74 crores for several schemes including the fishermen’s welfare activities was also released in the five years till 2021-22. In addition to this, Under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund, fisheries infrastructural project proposals worth Rs 1,091.28 crores for providing concessional finance have also been approved for Tamil Nadu.
To Kanimozhi’s question on productive steps taken to give unique fisherman ID cards to assist them to get financial and technical support. He said nearly 19.16 lakh fishermen have been issued with biometric ID cards and 12.40 lakh fishermen have been provided with QR-coded PVC Aadhar cards for financial and technical assistance.
Also, the Minister gave a detailed account of several schemes which were delineated for the fishermen’s welfare. This included the Blue Revolution Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries and the issuance of Kisan Credit Cards to fishermen and the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PM MSY).
The PM MSY offers financial assistance for various facilities the procurement of boats for a better catch, cold chain facilities, nets, communication, and tracking devices. Also, in addition to this, it also provides livelihood and nutritional support to socio-economically backward traditional fishers and for the insurance of fishers.
Another question raised by Kanimozhi was on the measures of adequate skill training, the creation of value-added products, and the latest gadgets for fishing. Rupala said PMMSY had a special focus on capacity building through programmes for several stakeholders like fish vendors, fishers, fisheries cooperatives, and members of Fish Farmer Producer organizations which would cover topics related to aquaculture, fishing, and post-harvesting activities which are executed through the institutions like Krishi Vigyan Kendras and the UT/States Fisheries Department.
