Financial Assistance To Fishermen For Purchase of Fisheries Requisites (Gill Net/ River Gill Net with Accessories)

What is the Goa fisheries requisites subsidy?

Financial Assistance To Fishermen For Purchase of Fisheries Requisites (Gill Net/ River Gill Net with Accessories) is a capital subsidy of the Directorate of Fisheries, Government of Goa. Nets are consumable capital for a working fisherman, they tear, rot and are lost at sea, and replacing a full set of gill nets with accessories is one of the larger irregular expenses a small fishing household faces.

According to the Government of Goa's published statement of fisheries schemes, the scheme pays 50% of the actual cost, limited to Rs 30,000 for the general category and Rs 40,000 for the SC and ST category. Note the structure carefully: unlike several other Goa fisheries subsidies where the SC, ST and women categories get a higher percentage, here the percentage stays at 50% for everyone and only the ceiling moves upward for SC and ST applicants.

The scheme covers both marine gill nets and river gill nets, together with their accessories, which is why it is written up under the general heading of "fisheries requisites".

How much does the gill net subsidy pay?

Because the base is the actual cost shown on the dealer's GST bill and not a notified unit cost, a cheaper net produces a smaller subsidy. A fisherman who spends Rs 40,000 on a net and accessories receives Rs 20,000; one who spends Rs 90,000 receives the ceiling, Rs 30,000 in the general category or Rs 40,000 if he holds a valid SC or ST certificate.

Who is eligible for the fisheries requisites assistance?

You can claim the subsidy if:

• You possess a certificate of vessel registration for fishing issued by the Directorate of Fisheries, Government of Goa under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 to or, for fishing in inland water, a vessel registration certificate issued by the Captain of Ports for fishing purposes.
• You possess a valid fishing licence certificate and a valid fishing net licence certificate.
• You have already purchased the gill net and its accessories and hold the original GST bill from the authorised dealer.
• Neither you nor any member of your household owns a trawler or purse-seine fishing vessel (see the exclusion below).

You cannot apply if:

• You, or any family member of your household, possess a fishing vessel; trawler or purse-seiner: registered under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 with the Directorate of Fisheries, Government of Goa, in your or their name. The scheme text defines family as husband, wife and children below 18 years. This is the defining exclusion: the subsidy is aimed at the small fisherman, not at a household that already owns mechanised capacity.
• Your fishing licence or net licence has expired.
• Your craft is not registered either with the Directorate of Fisheries or with the Captain of Ports for fishing purposes.
• You are claiming against a quotation, estimate or second-hand purchase rather than an original GST bill from an authorised dealer.

An applicant who wants the higher Rs 40,000 ceiling must submit a valid SC or ST caste certificate. Without it the claim is processed at the general category ceiling of Rs 30,000, not rejected.

What documents do I need?

1. Application in the prescribed form.
2. Certificate of Vessel Registration — from the Directorate of Fisheries under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, or from the Captain of Ports for inland water.
3. Valid Fishing Licence certificate and Fishing Net Licence certificate.
4. Original GST bill from the authorised dealer towards the purchase of the gill net and its accessories.
5. Self declaration.
6. Caste certificate, if the SC or ST ceiling is being claimed.
7. Copy of the Aadhaar card and Election card.
8. ECS mandate form.

Carry the originals of the registration certificate and both licences to submission even though copies are filed, the receiving officer normally wants to sight them.

How to apply for the Goa gill net subsidy

1. Buy the gill net and accessories from an authorised dealer and collect the original GST bill. Do not treat this scheme as an advance; the purchase comes first.
2. Obtain the prescribed application form from the Directorate of Fisheries, or from the Fisheries official posted at your BDO office or a departmental sub-office.
3. Fill in the form and sign the self declaration, including the declaration that no member of your household owns a registered trawler or purse-seiner.
4. Attach the documents: vessel registration certificate, valid fishing and net licences, original GST bill, Aadhaar and Election card copies, ECS mandate form, and the SC or ST caste certificate if you are claiming the higher ceiling.
5. Submit the complete file to the Directorate of Fisheries at Dayanand Bandodkar Marg, Panaji, or to the Fisheries official at your BDO office or sub-office.
6. Collect the acknowledgement carrying the inward number and keep it. You will quote it in every follow-up.

How to apply online through goaonline.gov.in

1. Register on goaonline.gov.in with your mobile number and email, and verify the account.
2. Log in with the credentials you created.
3. Open Services → All Services → Directorate of Fisheries → Financial Assistance for purchase of fisheries requisites.
4. Fill the online form and upload scanned copies of the vessel registration certificate, the fishing and net licences, the original GST bill, Aadhaar, Election card and the ECS mandate form.
5. Submit and note the application reference number shown on screen, which is what you use to track the file on the portal.

Uploads must be legible. A GST bill photographed at an angle so the dealer's GSTIN or the itemisation of accessories cannot be read is a common cause of the file coming back.

How is the subsidy paid and how do I track it?

The subsidy is credited electronically to the bank account named in the ECS mandate form after the Directorate sanctions the file. Applications filed through goaonline.gov.in can be tracked with the reference number on the portal; offline applications are tracked at the office where the file was inwarded, against the inward number on the acknowledgement.

Between submission and sanction the file usually passes a field check by the Fisheries Officer or Assistant Superintendent covering your taluka, who verifies the net against the bill and confirms that the craft and licences are as declared.

Why do gill net subsidy claims get rejected?

• Household owns a trawler or purse-seiner. This is the exclusion that catches most rejected files, and it extends to the spouse and to children below 18.
• Fishing licence or net licence expired on the date of application.
• Bill is not an original GST bill from an authorised dealer. A cash memo, a quotation or a handwritten receipt will not carry the file.
• Vessel registration certificate not produced, or in someone else's name.
• Caste certificate missing where the Rs 40,000 ceiling has been claimed, in which case the claim is usually re-worked at Rs 30,000 rather than refused.
• ECS mandate details do not match the applicant's name and account.

Deficient files are ordinarily returned for correction rather than rejected outright. Respond quickly: a file left uncorrected past the end of the financial year loses its budget provision and has to be submitted afresh.

Where do I complain?

The Directorate of Fisheries names a Grievance Redressal Officer in its citizen charter. Grievances can be sent by email to dir-fish.goa@nic.in, or raised at the Directorate on 0832-2224838, at Dayanand Bandodkar Marg, Panaji, Goa. The Government of Goa's public grievance route through goaonline.gov.in is the escalation path if the departmental reply does not satisfy you.

Practical points

• Keep the licences alive. An expired net licence is the cheapest possible way to lose a Rs 30,000 subsidy. Renew before you buy, not after.
• Ask the dealer to itemise the accessories on the GST bill. Accessories are within the scheme, but only if they are visible on the document.
• The trawler exclusion is checked against departmental records, not only against your declaration. A vessel registered in a spouse's name will surface.
• Goa runs parallel net subsidies, for stake nets on a 3-year cycle, for barrier nets on a 4-year cycle, and for singel and small rampon nets at 50% up to Rs 50,000 for OBC Kharvi fishermen. Each has its own form and must be applied for separately.