Machhali Palan (Fish Farming Relief Assistance), Uttarakhand

What is the Machhali Palan scheme in Uttarakhand?

Machhali Palan: literally "fish farming": refers to the fisheries support available to fishermen in Uttarakhand. This guide covers the specific relief assistance for boats and nets damaged by natural disasters, which is administered by the Department of Disaster Management and Rehabilitation of Uttarakhand, alongside the fish-farming schemes run by the state Department of Fisheries.

Uttarakhand is a hill state where many fishermen work on rivers, reservoirs and lakes that are exposed to floods, cloudbursts and heavy monsoon damage. When a natural disaster destroys or damages the boats and nets that a fisher depends on for a living, this relief provides a fixed cash amount to repair, reconstruct or replace them so the family can return to fishing.

According to the relief norms reported for the scheme, the assistance amounts are:

• Rs 6,000 for a partially damaged boat
• Rs 15,000 for a fully destroyed boat
• Rs 3,000 for a partially damaged net
• Rs 4,000 for a fully destroyed or lost net
• Rs 10,000 per hectare reported as an investment subsidy for a fish-seed farm

These figures follow State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) relief norms for fishery losses. The relief is meant to cover the essential cost of getting a working boat and net back, not the full market value of a new one.

Who is eligible for the Machhali Palan relief?

You can claim if:

• You are a registered fisherman recognised by the Uttarakhand fisheries department or your local body.
• Your boat or net was damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster, for example a flood, cloudburst or heavy rain.
• The damage can be verified locally by the patwari and recorded in Form P-20.
• You have a bank account to receive the relief.

You cannot claim if:

• You are not a registered fisher.
• The damage was not caused by a natural disaster, ordinary wear and tear, age, or damage from negligence is not eligible.
• The loss cannot be verified in the revenue and panchayat records.

The relief is narrowly targeted at genuine disaster losses, so every claim is checked on the ground before payment.

How much does the scheme pay?

The fixed relief amounts are Rs 6,000 (partly damaged boat), Rs 15,000 (fully destroyed boat), Rs 3,000 (partly damaged net) and Rs 4,000 (fully destroyed net). Payment is made to the beneficiary's bank account after the claim is approved. Because these are relief rates set under disaster-response norms, they are revised from time to time; confirm the current figure with your tehsil or the district disaster management office before assuming an amount.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Machhali Palan disaster relief

The claim is filed offline through the revenue machinery, not on a website. Follow these steps:

1. Report the damage immediately after the disaster to your patwari (village revenue official) and gram panchayat, and keep any photographs of the damaged boat or net.
2. Get the damage recorded in Form P-20, which the patwari fills in and certifies as the official record of what was damaged and to what extent.
3. Submit your fisherman registration, Aadhaar and bank passbook along with the P-20 so the claim can be built.
4. Wait for field verification, the tehsildar and sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) validate the claim, and the district magistrate (DM) approves it.
5. Collect your relief once the tehsil prepares the beneficiary list and the amount is transferred to your bank account.

For the separate fish-farming subsidies (pond construction, fish seed, aquaculture inputs), apply through the Department of Fisheries at your district fisheries office or via fisheries.uk.gov.in, which lists those schemes.

What other fisheries support does Uttarakhand offer?

The disaster relief above sits alongside the state's mainstream fish-farming schemes, which are what most fish farmers actually apply for. According to the Department of Fisheries, the Mukhya Mantri Carp Matsya Palan Yojana, launched in 2024-25, provides a uniform 80 percent subsidy to all beneficiary categories for constructing fish ponds and taking up carp culture. Under this scheme the department disbursed around Rs 146 lakh in 2024-25 and released Rs 48.57 lakh in 2025-26 for roughly 4.9 hectares of new pond construction, and the state has also brought in rainbow trout ova and fry from Himachal Pradesh to strengthen cold-water fish farming in the hill districts. For ponds damaged by natural calamities, the department's reported relief rate is about Rs 0.42 lakh (Rs 42,000) per pond for repair and improvement — a separate line from the boat-and-net relief covered above. These are applied for at the district fisheries office, not through the revenue machinery, and are the right route for a farmer who wants to start or expand fish farming rather than recover a disaster loss.

The two channels are easy to confuse, so it is worth being clear: disaster relief for a damaged boat or net is a one-time, event-triggered payment filed through the patwari and tehsil, whereas the carp and pond subsidies are planned, budget-linked investments applied for through the fisheries department. A fisher hit by a flood may be entitled to both: relief to get back on the water, and a subsidy to rebuild a damaged pond, but each has its own form, office and verification.

How to check your claim status

Because the relief is processed through the tehsil, the way to track it is to follow up in person with your patwari and the tehsil office that is preparing the beneficiary list. Keep your Form P-20 acknowledgement and bank details ready so staff can locate your case. The district disaster management office and the district fisheries office can also tell you where an approved claim stands in the payment queue.

Why a Machhali Palan claim can be rejected or delayed

• The applicant is not a registered fisher, so the loss falls outside the scheme.
• The damage was not disaster-related, or could not be verified on the ground.
• Form P-20 was not completed or the patwari could not certify the extent of damage.
• Bank account problems: wrong number, inactive account, or a name mismatch.
• Delay in reporting, which makes it harder for the patwari to verify a disaster loss after the fact.

Reporting the damage quickly, keeping photographs, and giving a correct bank account are the best ways to avoid a rejected or stalled claim.

Key facts and grievance route

The Machhali Palan disaster relief in Uttarakhand is best understood as a narrow, disaster-triggered benefit rather than a general subsidy, it exists to put a working boat and net back in a fisher's hands after a flood or cloudburst. Grievances go first to the tehsil and the district disaster management office; broader fish-farming scheme queries go to the Department of Fisheries (fisheries.uk.gov.in). Because the relief figures follow disaster-response norms that are revised periodically, always confirm the current amount with the tehsil before filing.

Note: this is a genuinely niche, thinly documented scheme. The relief amounts above are drawn from a secondary compilation of the disaster-relief norms and should be reconfirmed against the district administration's current notification.