National Welfare Scheme for Fishermen, Jammu and Kashmir

What is the National Welfare Scheme for Fishermen in Jammu and Kashmir?

The National Welfare Scheme for Fishermen is the centrally sponsored welfare programme through which the Department of Fisheries, Government of Jammu and Kashmir provides housing and accident insurance to professional fishermen. It is listed by the department among the centrally sponsored schemes operational in the fisheries sector, alongside Development of Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture, Fisheries Training and Extension and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

Unlike almost every other fisheries scheme, this one does not fund production. It funds the household. Fishing communities in Jammu and Kashmir, the Mahigeers of the Kashmir valley among them; have historically been among the poorer occupational groups, and the department describes the housing component as introduced "for upliftment of this backward community."

The scheme has two distinct parts, and it is worth keeping them separate in your mind because they have different eligibility tests and different money.

Part one: construction of low-cost houses. According to the Department of Fisheries, this centrally sponsored scheme was introduced in the region during 1996 to provide low-cost houses to poor and houseless fishermen. The funding pattern is 50:50 as central and state share. The initial cost of the scheme was Rs 35,000, which has since been enhanced to Rs 1,30,000 per beneficiary. The department states that the beneficiary should be a bonafide fisherman registered with the department for at least five years.

Part two — free accident insurance. Besides the housing scheme, the department states that professional fishermen are provided free insurance cover, under which, in the event of death or permanent disability during fishing, the beneficiary is paid Rs 1.00 lakh and Rs 0.50 lakh respectively. The department records that 234 claims have so far been settled under this cover.

Who is eligible for the fishermen welfare scheme in J&K?

You can be considered for the low-cost house if:

• You are a bonafide professional fisherman whose livelihood comes from fishing in the waters of Jammu and Kashmir.
• You are registered with the Department of Fisheries, and that registration has been in force for at least five years.
• You are poor and houseless, or your existing dwelling is inadequate. The department describes the component as being for "poor/houseless fishermen."
• You have a plot on which the house can be built, with title you can show.

You can be covered by the accident insurance if:

• You are an active professional fisherman on the department's rolls. The department describes the cover as being for active fishermen, and the payout is tied to death or permanent disability during fishing.

You cannot apply, or you are not eligible, if:

• You are not registered with the Department of Fisheries as a bonafide fisherman. This is the threshold test and there is no way around it.
• You have been registered for less than five years. The housing benefit is closed to you until you cross that mark, though your insurance cover as an active fisherman is a separate matter.
• You already have an adequate house, since the component targets the houseless.
• You fish recreationally rather than professionally. Anglers holding a trout angling permit are not professional fishermen for the purposes of this scheme.
• Your district's annual target is exhausted for the financial year, in which case a valid case is normally carried forward rather than rejected on merit.

How to apply for the fishermen welfare scheme in Jammu and Kashmir

1. Confirm your registration as a bonafide fisherman with the Department of Fisheries, and find out from the district office the date from which it runs. The five-year clock for the housing benefit runs from that date, so this is the first thing to establish.
2. Visit the Assistant Director Fisheries of your district, or the Joint Director of your zone, and ask for the current year's welfare targets and the application format. Contact numbers for every district office are published on the department's Contact Us page.
3. Submit the application for the low-cost house, attaching your fisherman registration, proof that you are houseless or inadequately housed, the title document for the plot where the house will stand, Aadhaar and your bank passbook.
4. Allow the verification. Departmental staff verify your registration history, your fishing livelihood and your existing dwelling before the case is put up for sanction.
5. Take the sanction to your bank. Assistance is released to your own account and is normally tied to construction stages, so keep the sanction letter and every receipt for material and labour.
6. Build the house to the specification sanctioned, and let the department inspect the stage of construction when it comes to do so.
7. Separately confirm your insurance enrolment for the current year at the same office, since the group accident cover follows the enrolled list.

How to claim the accident insurance

1. Report the death or the accident to the Assistant Director Fisheries of the district as soon as possible. The claim originates with the department, not with the insurer directly.
2. Establish that the incident occurred during fishing, since the cover is for death or permanent disability during fishing. A police report, hospital record or post-mortem report as applicable will be required.
3. Submit the claim through the district office with the deceased or injured fisherman's registration particulars, identity documents, the nominee's bank details and the medical or police records.
4. Follow up with the Joint Director of the zone if the claim is not moving. The department has settled 234 claims, so there is an established route.

How much money is involved and how does it reach you?

The housing grant is Rs 1,30,000 per beneficiary, revised upward from the original Rs 35,000. That is a substantial revision, and the practical consequence is that older lists and older printed material still quoting Rs 35,000 or intermediate figures are out of date, ask the district office for the figure sanctioned in the current year's order before you plan construction.

The 50:50 central and state funding pattern matters to applicants only in one way: releases can be paced by the availability of both shares, so a sanctioned house is sometimes paid in instalments over more than one construction season. Plan the build so that a delay between instalments does not leave a half-finished structure exposed through a Kashmir winter.

The insurance pays Rs 1.00 lakh on death and Rs 0.50 lakh on permanent disability, free of premium to the fisherman.

Why applications get rejected or held up

• Registration less than five years old, which is the single most common disqualifier for the housing component.
• No registration at all with the Department of Fisheries. People who have fished for years without ever registering discover this only when they apply.
• Existing house found adequate on verification, which takes the applicant outside the "poor/houseless" target group.
• No clear title to the plot on which the house is to be built.
• Bank account not in the beneficiary's own name or not seeded with Aadhaar, which stalls the release rather than the sanction.
• Insurance claim not established as having occurred during fishing, which is the specific condition the cover attaches to.
• District target exhausted for the financial year.

What else the department offers a fishing household

The Department of Fisheries runs several programmes that a fishing household can combine with this one:

• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, introduced in the sector in 2009-10, under which financial assistance for carp units, trout rearing units and low-cost houses is provided to rural educated unemployed youth. This is a second route to a house for a younger member of the family.
• Development of Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture, funded 75:25, for carp and trout units, reservoir fisheries and ornamental fisheries.
• Fisheries Training and Extension, under which the department provides technical know-how to progressive fish farmers, runs training programmes for unemployed youth, and supplies fish seed at a nominal price.
• Reservoir fishing rights, with the Ranjit Sagar reservoir open to professional fishermen of the area on a nominal fee.
• Mission Fingerling stocking of natural waters with seed above 70 mm, which the department describes as being for better livelihood earning by fishermen and Mahigeers.

Central fisheries funding today runs largely through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, which carries its own insurance and livelihood support for fishers and is applied for through the state fisheries department. If your district office tells you the welfare components are now being sanctioned under PMMSY, that is consistent with how central fisheries funding has been consolidated. The office to approach is the same.

Where to get help

• Directorate of Fisheries, Kashmir, Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), Srinagar

190001. Phone 0194-2500092, 0194-2500106, 0194-2500124. Email jkfd-kmr@jk.gov.in.

• Directorate of Fisheries, Jammu, Nowabad Canal Road, Jammu. Phone 0191-2951670. Email jkfd-jmu@jk.gov.in.
• Joint Director South Kashmir 0194-2504415, North Kashmir 0194-2504506, Central Jammu 0191-2490949.
• Assistant Directors, Srinagar 0194-2481969, Budgam 01951-255232, Anantnag 01932-227572, Kupwara 01955-252336, Pulwama 01933-241316, Baramulla 01954-222470, Shopian 01933-260232, Ganderbal 0194-2416176.
• Department website, fisheries.jk.gov.in, which carries the citizen charter and the departmental telephone directory.

Registration as a fisherman and the welfare application are both free. No agent can add your name to a beneficiary list, and the five-year registration requirement cannot be waived by anyone at the district level.