National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen

What is the National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen?

The National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen was a centrally sponsored scheme of the Government of India, implemented through State and Union Territory Fisheries Departments, to provide basic amenities and social security to fisher families. It brought together housing, drinking water, insurance and lean-season income support for people whose livelihood depends on marine and inland fishing: occupations that are seasonal, hazardous and often carried on by low-income households.

The scheme is now administered under the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Its welfare components have been brought under the umbrella of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and continue through the states, so a fisher today applies for these benefits through the State Fisheries Department rather than under the old scheme name.

Original components

• Housing: construction of a house of up to 35 square metres in fishermen villages, along with common facilities.
• Drinking water, a tube well provided for every 20 houses.
• Group accident insurance; Rs 50,000 for death or permanent total disability and Rs 25,000 for partial permanent disability.
• Savings-cum-relief, a matched-savings scheme to support marine fishers during the lean and fishing-ban season.

How did the savings-cum-relief component work?

The savings-cum-relief component addressed the specific problem that marine capture fishers have no income during the annual fishing ban and lean months. According to scheme documentation, a marine fisher saved Rs 75 per month for 8 months, a total of Rs 600. The Central and State Governments contributed a matching Rs 600, so the pooled corpus reached Rs 1,200 (shared between the Centre and the state in the prescribed ratio). This amount was returned to the fisher in monthly instalments during the lean or ban period when fishing was not possible, giving the household a cushion.

If a fisher defaulted on the monthly saving, the amount already paid was refunded with accrued interest at the due date, rather than being forfeited.

Who was eligible for the National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen?

You could apply if:

• You were an active fisher registered with your State or UT Fisheries Department, engaged in marine or inland fishing.
• For the savings-cum-relief component, you were a marine capture fisher affected by the seasonal ban and able to make the monthly saving.
• For housing, you belonged to a fisher household, generally in a lower income category, without a pucca house of your own.

You could not apply if:

• You were not a registered fisher with the State Fisheries Department.
• You were not engaged in fishing as a livelihood. The scheme is occupational, not open to the general public.
• You had already received the same housing or insurance benefit, or did not meet the state's economic-category conditions for the housing component.

Because the components are delivered by the states, exact income ceilings, age limits and the priority for housing are set by each State or UT Fisheries Department.

What documents are required?

How to apply for fisher welfare benefits

There is no single central citizen portal for these welfare claims; the route is through the state administration.

1. Register as an active fisher with your State or Union Territory Fisheries Department, if you are not already registered, and obtain your fisher identity card.
2. Approach the local or district Fisheries office and ask which welfare components — insurance, savings-cum-relief or housing: are currently open under PMMSY in your state.
3. Obtain and fill the application form for the relevant component, attaching your fisher ID, Aadhaar, bank passbook and any income proof required.
4. For the savings-cum-relief component, enrol and begin the monthly savings through the department so the matching government share is credited.
5. Submit the application to the Fisheries office and keep the acknowledgement for tracking.

Where this scheme stands today

The National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen is best understood as the predecessor of today's fisher social-security benefits. Its three pillars, group accident insurance, savings-cum-relief and housing, now run under the Department of Fisheries through PMMSY and allied schemes, delivered by the states. Readers looking for the current, active benefit should read this alongside the PMMSY guide and contact their State Fisheries Department for the live component names, amounts and application windows.

Help and where to check

• Department of Fisheries: dof.gov.in, for scheme documents and the current PMMSY framework under which these welfare components run.
• Department of Fisheries contact: 011-24048048
• Your State / UT Fisheries Department, the authority that registers fishers and processes housing, insurance and savings-cum-relief claims.