Union Minister announces major initiatives in Fisheries sector

Bangaluru/Udupi: Union minister for Fisheries Animal Husbandry and Dairy Parshottam Rupala has announced that the government prioritises the fisheries industry to ensure that it adopts a comprehensive development strategy.

Two big announcements were made in the meetings in Udupi and Mangaluru including a new fisheries university for Mangaluru and a series of sops to the fishermen on the Karnataka coast including the extension of KisanVikas cards for Fisherfolk in the state. He was participating in the initiation ceremony of 'SagarParikrama' in Karnataka which is an ambitious programme of the Union government to improve fisheries in the country. Speaking to the press correspondents in MangaluruRupala said "We have made a proposal to the union government to isolate the fisheries section of the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal Sciences and Fisheries University at Bidar and use the resources to upgrade the Fisheries college at Mangaluru into a University.

Rupala stated that the Pradhan MantriMatsyaSampadaYojana (PMMSY), has envisioned funding of Rs 20,050 crore for the fisheries sector for five years (2020-25), and the production scale in the fisheries sector will increase and various allied activities will add income generation opportunity in the sector as a result of this large scale of investment. SagarParikrama- 2023 (Phase-IV) program was inaugurated on Sunday in Malpe.

The SagarParikrama program, which seeks to raise fishermen's awareness of various government programs along the country's 8,000 km of coastlines, aims to address the issues facing fishermen nationwide, according to the minister. Fishermen in this area have discussed issues and also suggested building Malpe's largest all-weather harbour.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that the fisheries sector contributes a significant portion to the country's economy, he said that their demands, which include a new harbour, distribution of kerosene and diesel, and other programs, will be met. For the benefit of the nation's fishermen, Prime Minister Modi has established a separate ministry for fisheries. The Pradhan MantriMatsyaSampadaYojana was announced by the PM to improve the lives of fishermen and the fishing industry.

To purchase deep-sea fishing boats, financial assistance in the amount of Rs 1 crore is being provided. He added that the demands would be discussed with officials. "The majority of fishermen want small trawlers, and they want the government to introduce schemes for the same. The minister also expressed shock at learning about the complaints of fishermen who received loans from private companies at a rate of 15 per cent interest per month.

If that is the interest rate, fishermen would not be able to escape their financial problems. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to provide loans to fishermen in a similar manner to how loans are provided to farmers in order to stop this. Fishermen can borrow up to Rs 1.8 lakh from banks without providing security, he said. t