Livelihood Support to Marine Fishermen During Fishing Ban Period (Odisha)

What is the fishing ban livelihood support scheme in Odisha?

Livelihood Support to Marine Fishermen During Fishing Ban Period is a state plan scheme of the Fisheries & Animal Resources Development Department, Government of Odisha, now run as a sub-scheme of Mukhyamantri Maschyajibi Kalyan Yojana (MMKY). The scheme pays a fixed annual sum to marine fisher families who lose their income when fishing is prohibited to protect Olive Ridley sea turtles.

The department introduced the scheme in FY 2016-17 and enhanced the assistance to Rs 15,000 a year from FY 2022-23. It is paid to only one member of each affected family, in a single instalment, by DBT to an Aadhaar-linked bank account.

The problem the scheme addresses is severe and specific. Odisha is a maritime state with six coastal districts and a 480 km coastline, on which about 5.18 lakh marine fishers in 1.15 lakh families depend entirely on fishing. According to the department's guideline, fishers of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Bhadrak are adversely affected by a fishing ban for sea turtle protection running seven months, from 1 November to 31 May, both days inclusive, each year. On top of that sits the uniform ban from 15 April to 14 June, a further 61 days. Fishers of Kendrapara district face a ban round the year, because Gahirmatha Wildlife Sanctuary stretches along the entire coastline of the district.

Where is the scheme implemented?

The scheme runs in the marine districts of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Ganjam along the Odisha coastline. The belt where marine fishers are affected by year-round or seasonal restrictions at Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, Bhitarkanika National Park, and the adjoining areas of the Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth, both major Olive Ridley mass nesting sites.

The Director of Fisheries, Odisha implements the scheme through the Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) of each district.

Who is eligible for the fishing ban livelihood support?

You can apply if:

• You are an active marine fisherman.
• You are aged between 18 and 70 years.
• You are a permanent resident of Odisha with identity and residential proof including an Aadhaar card.
• You hold an Aadhaar-linked bank account in your own name at a branch in Odisha.
• You are a boat owner of a motorised boat, a crew member of a motorised boat, a fish trader, or a person engaged in sorting, grading of fish or other ancillary activities.
• You own a non-motorised boat, or work as crew or an ancillary worker, in the belt adjoining Bhitarkanika and Gahirmatha sanctuary and are deprived of fishing inside sanctuary waters. This group is specifically written into the guideline.
• You are, preferably, covered under the National Food Security Act.

Additional condition by category

• A boat owner must hold valid ReAL Craft registration and a valid fishing licence.
• A crew member must work on a registered fishing boat with a current fishing licence, and must produce a certificate from the boat owner to that effect.
• A fish trader or ancillary worker must likewise produce a certificate from a registered boat owner confirming the activity.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible; if:

• You are below 18 or above 70 years of age.
• Another member of your family has already been assisted in the same year. The scheme covers one member per family, on behalf of the family.
• Your household is an automatically excluded household under the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011. The guideline states that beneficiaries should not belong to this category.
• You fish outside the five notified coastal districts.
• You have no Aadhaar-linked bank account in your own name in Odisha.
• You are a boat owner whose registration or fishing licence has lapsed, or a crew member who cannot produce a boat owner's certificate.

Order of preference in selection: boat owners first, then crew members of fishing boats, then workers engaged in sorting, grading and other ancillary activities.

How to apply for the fishing ban livelihood support

1. Collect the prescribed application form (Annexure-I of the scheme guideline) from the Assistant Fisheries Officer of your marine extension unit, or from the SFTA or JFTA attached to your unit.
2. Fill in the form completely; name, father's or husband's name, gender, age, full address with village, GP, post, block, district and PIN, Aadhaar-linked mobile number, Aadhaar number, category, and your occupation ticked from boat owner, crew member, fish trader, ancillary fishery worker or dry fish producer.
3. Add the boat details. If you own the boat, enter its registration number, licence validity, boat name and marine extension unit. If you work on someone else's boat, enter the owner's name and the same boat details, and attach the boat owner's certificate.
4. Complete the household questions: membership of a Primary Marine Fishing Co-operative Society, annual family income, whether you hold an NFSA ration card and its number, and whether you are an automatically excluded household under SECC
6. Enter your bank details — bank name, branch, account number and IFSC, and sign the declaration, which states that false information will lead to exclusion from the scheme or punishment under law.
7. Attach self-attested photocopies of Aadhaar, voter ID, ration card, boat registration certificate, fishing licence, the boat owner's certificate where applicable, and the first page of your bank passbook. Carry the originals to show at submission.
8. Submit to the Assistant Fisheries Officer (Marine Extension Unit), the designated receiving and verifying officer, preferably by September so the list is finalised before the ban begins.

How is the application processed and the money released?

The guideline lays down a fixed timeline.

The District Level Committee here is chaired by the Sub-Collector of the district, with the Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) as member convener. Other members are the Tahasildar, a representative of the Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, a PRI member, and representatives and office bearers of the concerned marine Primary Fishermen Cooperative Society.

One instruction matters a great deal to applicants: the guideline directs the Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) to ensure that all eligible fishers are covered, because the district-wise target is only indicative and no eligible affected fisher should be excluded. Officers are also required to maintain all records of rejection, which gives you something concrete to ask for if your name does not appear.

What else comes with this scheme?

Two linked benefits are built into the guideline.

Group Accident Insurance Scheme (GAIS) coverage. The Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) is required to ensure that every beneficiary and their eligible family members are brought under GAIS coverage. Ask about this when you submit your form.

Registration on the National Fisheries Digital Platform. The AFO of the marine extension unit must facilitate registration of all eligible selected fishers on NFDP at nfdp.dof.gov.in, developed under the PM-MKSSY sub-scheme. NFDP registration is increasingly the gateway to central fisheries benefits, so it is worth completing while you are at the unit office.

How to check your application status

1. Ask the Assistant Fisheries Officer of your marine extension unit whether your application passed initial scrutiny and when the verification report went up.
2. Ask the Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) of your district whether the District Level Committee has met and whether your name is on the finalised list.
3. Check the Directorate of Fisheries website, where the final beneficiary list of each district is uploaded after the DLC.
4. If your name is on the list but no money has arrived, ask the AFO (Marine) to check the Aadhaar-seeding status of your bank account. This verification is a separate step within seven days of DLC approval and is where most payments stall.
5. If your name is missing, ask for the record of rejection, which officers are required to maintain.

Why applications get rejected

• Another family member already assisted in the same year, since the benefit is one per family.
• Age outside the 18 to 70 band.
• Lapsed fishing licence or unregistered boat for boat-owner applicants.
• No boat owner's certificate for crew members, traders and ancillary workers.
• Automatically excluded household under SECC 2011.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-linked, not in the applicant's own name, or held outside Odisha, which blocks the DBT.
• Application submitted too late to be considered by the District Level Committee before the ban period.
• Mobile number not linked to Aadhaar, which the form marks as mandatory.

Most of these are correctable before the next cycle. Renew the ReAL Craft licence, get the boat owner's certificate signed and verified by the AFO, seed your account with Aadhaar at your bank branch, and file again by September.

Help and grievance redressal

• Assistant Fisheries Officer, Marine Extension Unit, the receiving and verifying officer for your application.
• Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri or Ganjam. The implementing officer who finalises the list and releases the money.
• Directorate of Fisheries, Odisha, Cuttack, the Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) submits a monthly progress report here, and supervision rests with the Zonal Deputy Director, the Deputy Director of Fisheries (Marine), the Joint Director of Fisheries (Coastal) and the Additional Director of Fisheries (Technical).
• Fisheries & Animal Resources Development Department, Odisha, Lok Seva Bhavan, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar 751001. Telephone (0674) 2536985 and (0674) 2322960, email fardsec.od@nic.in.

Applying is free. No cooperative society office bearer, agent or middleman can charge a fee to place your name on the beneficiary list, and the Rs 15,000 reaches your own Aadhaar-linked account by DBT and no one else's. The department has stated it will develop a portal for online registration, verification and DBT payment in future; until that goes live, the offline route through your marine extension unit is the only one.