Fishing ban subsidy now at the click of a button

Chennai: Fishermen need not run from pillar to post any more to get the state government’s subsidy during the annual fishing ban, as the process has been simplified. All they have to do is visit a nearby e-seva centre, fill the application online and send it to the fisheries department. The new system, launched on Monday, is aimed at making the subsidy disbursal quicker and more effective.
A senior fisheries department official told TOI that until last year, the beneficiaries submitted applications in person or through middlemen, to fisheries department offices across the state. “Some applications got lost or middlemen tricked fishermen into entrusting them with their subsidies. Applications that reached officials past all the hurdles had to be verified for authenticity, which took time,” the official said. Only after verification, the ban period subsidy of Rs 5,000 was credited to the fishermen’s bank accounts.
At least 50,000 apply for the subsidy from Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts every year. The state-wide figure is higher.
Since processing applications manually was time consuming, beneficiaries received the aid towards the end of the ban season, the official added. “With the online system, fisheries officials can complete authentication quickly, as details of all fishermen are available on the department’s database. So the subsidy can be disbursed sooner.”
Starting next year, applications for subsidies for the 61-day ban from April 14 and the lean period of October, November and December, will be processed only through the online system.
“Apart from cutting down travel time to apply, fishermen will get an instant acknowledgement of the application and can track its status online too. Next year, biometric data of fishermen will be recorded. We’re trying to make the system more transparent and eliminate the role of middlemen,” the officer added.