Kakinada fishermen keep off enumeration exercise

The inordinate delay in disbursal of ex gratia to fishermen towards the fishing ban period has prompted the fisherfolk from Kakinada to distance themselves from the ongoing survey of boats undertaken by the Fisheries Department.

Contrary to the claims of the officials that the enumeration of boats had been completed for the season, some fishermen hamlets claimed they had not submitted details of the their boats yet and that they would help in the enumeration only after receiving the ex gratia.

Though the government announced ₹ 4,000 per family towards relief during the 61-day ban period from April 15 every year, most of the about 30,000 beneficiaries from the district are yet to get the sum intended for last year. Same is the case with the diesel subsidy which was received by a few boat owners in the recent past.

Now, the Fisheries Department has proposed to undertake a survey of mechanised and motorised boats and seed the data with that of Aadhaar and bank details of fishermen to avoid duplication of boat registration and to ensure direct benefit transfer to genuine beneficiaries.

Colour code

It is also proposed to campaign vividly among the fishermen about the international colour code to the fishing boats — navy blue colour in the the bottom and yellow in the top —and ensure that the painting was completed by the time the ban was lifted.

“During the two day enumeration, our employees have verified the records of 432 mechanised boats and 2,980 motorised boats,” P. Jaya Rao, Deputy Director of the Fisheries Department, claimed.

However, the fishermen are wondering how the enumeration was completed when half the community was unaware of the schedule. “The enumeration is done only on paper. Let the officials cross-check the measurements of the boats and the engine details by conducting physical verification of the vessels randomly. No campaign was conducted on the enumeration in many areas, while the fishermen whom the officials interacted with were reluctant to take part in it till the disbursal of last year’s ex gratia,” says Dasari Satyanarayana, founder-president of Coastal Rights Protection Committee, an NGO working for the fishermen.

Mr. Rao, however, says they were ready to receive applications from the fishermen, who had not furnished the details of their vessels so far.