Subsidy up to Rs 3 lakh to be extended to 1,000 fishermen: CM Bommai

Bengaluru, Oct.16, 2022: The State government will extend Rs 3 lakh subsidy being given to fishermen to do fishing through cable net from the existing 300 to Rs 1,000 fishermen, announced Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Inland Fish Producers Convention for the year 2022 at Palace Ground here on Sunday.

Bommai said under the Sthree Samarthya scheme, a financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh to 5 lakh is given. Utilising the subsidy being given for Stree Shakti groups and under Swami Vivekananda scheme to take up inland fishing, 1,000 sanghas must come forward to take up fishing.

“Already, the grants had been released. The State is yet to achieve in fishery. The neighboring Andhra Pradesh has been ahead of Karnataka in fish exports. Instruction has been given to take a team of fishermen to Andhra Pradesh on study tour. The existing fishing activities must be extended and increase the existing export by at least three times and the necessary grants will be reserved in state budget 2023-24,” he said.

He added that five thousand houses have been sanctioned for fishermen to make them economically strong. The houses must be completed within the stipulated time.

“I will come personally attend and distribute houses if the houses are completed before January, 2023,” he said.

Bommai underscored the need to experiment with new breeds in inland farming to create a big market. A big gap existed between marketing and production and this can be abridged by giving importance to inland fishing and experimenting with new breeds.

“A lot of programs have been chalked out for sea fishermen and they are also given subsidies. For new ventures started, a subsidy of Rs one lakh is given per hectare. The fish produced in the coastal area has its own market. However, there have been ups and downs in fish production due to rise in sea level following climate change. The coastal fishermen do fishing 8 or 10 nautical mile but the big and good quality fish are available in deep fishing. The government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Sampada’ scheme to encourage deep sea fishing by using big trailers. The State has given 100 new inland boats to the fishermen under ‘Sampada’ scheme besides 40 per cent subsidy on it along with loans at low rate of interest. Plans are afoot to distribute 300 boats next year. The fishermen associations must go for deep sea fishing to increase fish productivity,” he added.

The CM said due to accumulation of silt owing to sea erosion adjacent to coastal area, permission has been granted and released special grants to take up desilting in eight fishery ports. The subsidy on diesel and kerosene for the fishermen has been hiked. The fishing boats are damaged during floods but the existing NDRF rules do not permit input subsidy.

“So, it has been decided to distribute the cash compensation to fishermen from the state government. Grants have been released to promote fishery in 5600 tanks in 5600 gram panchayats. Fishing is not going on systematically in Almatti and backwaters of KRS and it is being controlled by some persons. This will be checked to provide opportunity for all,” Bommai said.

The CM said there is a lot of demand for fish food in BBMP zones and there is a thinking to start fish food stalls measuring 1500-2000 sq mtrs in each ward of BBMP. There are 243 wards in Bengaluru City and the required space will be provided in all the wards to open the fish food stall. If this scheme proves successful then it will be extended to all the corporation limits.

The fishery has a lot of activities like production, marketing, management, export and local market. The government is ready to provide all assistance if the private sector comes forward to involve in marketing, management and transportation. The fishery business has been pegged at Rs eight lakh crores and it will increase the state GDP. The PM’s dream of a 5 trillion economy also includes agriculture, fishery and sheep rearing. One per cent growth in agriculture will pave the way for 4 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector and 10 per cent growth in the service sector.

Fisheries and Ports Minister S.Angara, Ministers, Dr.C.N.Ashwath Narayana, Byrati Basavaraj, Kota Srinivasa Pujari, B.C.Nagesh, MLA Sanjeev Matandur, Freedom App Founder C.S Sudhur and Fisheries Department Secretary Salma K Fahim were present.