Financial Grant for Reactivation of Mechanised Boats under Financial Assistance for Availing Subsidy Components for the Development of Marine Fisheries

What is the reactivation grant for mechanised boats?

Financial Grant for Reactivation of Mechanised Boats is a small annual grant of the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Government of Puducherry, forming one sub-component of the umbrella scheme Financial Assistance for Availing Subsidy Components for the Development of Marine Fisheries.

The grant is built around India's annual marine fishing ban. Every year the east coast observes a closed season during which mechanised fishing is prohibited so that fish stocks can spawn undisturbed. For a boat owner the ban means several weeks with no income, and the temptation to fish anyway is real. This component turns the ban into a maintenance window: the owner who hauls the boat out, overhauls the engine, repairs the hull and stays ashore receives a grant when the season reopens.

The Department frames the objective as increasing marine fish production. The grant does that in two ways at once. It rewards compliance with the ban, which protects the stock, and it puts money towards keeping the fleet mechanically sound, which reduces breakdowns and accidents at sea.

How much does the reactivation grant pay?

The grant is a flat amount per boat, set by hull material rather than by the value of the repairs:

The Department notes that the grant is subject to revision as and when approved by the Government from time to time, so applicants should confirm the current amount at the office before filing.

The amount does not scale with the repair bill. A Rs 40,000 engine overhaul on a wooden boat and a Rs 12,000 one both attract Rs 10,000. That makes the grant proportionally most useful to owners of smaller craft, for whom Rs 10,000 can cover a meaningful share of the off-season maintenance.

Who is eligible for the reactivation grant?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the fishermen community, or are professionally engaged in fishing or the fish trade full-time, or are a prospective entrepreneur in the fishing business.
• You have resided in the Union Territory of Puducherry for not less than five continuous years at the time of applying.
• You are enrolled as a member of a Fishermen Co-operative Society.
• You are above 23 and below 60 years of age.
• You possess a registered mechanised boat, registered and numbered by the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Puducherry.
• You carried out overhauling or repairs to the engine or hull during the notified fishing ban period.
• You did not venture out to fish during any notified ban on fishing.

You cannot apply if:

• You fished during the notified ban. This is the defining exclusion of the component, and a false declaration on it is treated seriously.
• You are a recipient of the Old Age Pension issued by the Department.
• You are employed in Government, a Government undertaking or a Fishermen Co-operative Society.
• You have dues outstanding to the Department or any Fishermen Co-operative Society on the date of application.
• Your boat is not registered with the Department.
• You did no overhauling or repair work during the ban period, or cannot evidence it.
• You are 60 or above, or under 23, or have lived in Puducherry for under five continuous years.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the reactivation grant

1. Do the work during the ban and keep the paperwork. Overhaul the engine or repair the hull while the notified ban is in force, and collect dated yard bills, invoices and repair records that show when the work was done.
2. Visit the Department office at the Fishing Harbour Complex, Thengaithittu, Mudaliarpet Post, Puducherry 605 004, or the regional sub-office serving Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam, and request the prescribed subsidies application form.
3. Fill in every mandatory field, paste the passport-sized photograph and sign across it where the form requires, and attach self-attested copies of the identity, age, residence, society membership and no-dues documents.
4. Attach the boat papers and the repair evidence, together with the declaration or affidavit that you did not venture out to fish during the notified ban.
5. Submit the form and enclosures to the concerned authority at that office.
6. Ask for a dated receipt or acknowledgement showing the date and time of submission and a unique identification number.

How is the claim verified?

Verification is deliberately close, because the eligibility condition is a negative one that has to be tested against the Department's own records of fishing activity during the ban.

An officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector of Fisheries conducts a field inquiry into the genuineness of the application. The scheme implementing officer, normally an Assistant Director or Deputy Director of Fisheries, records the verification and the recommendation. The file then goes before the Departmental Selection Committee, headed by the Director of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, which for the Puducherry region also includes the Joint Director, the Deputy Director (Welfare), the Secretary of the Puducherry State Fishermen Co-operative Federation Limited and the Deputy Director (Mechanisation).

The Department states that eligible beneficiaries are shortlisted within 60 days from the commencement of field inquiry work.

How do I check the status of my application?

Quote the unique identification number on your acknowledgement and follow up with the scheme implementing officer at the office where you filed. The application receipt register at that office records the stage of the file. Where the claim went in through the Puducherry e-District portal at edistrict.py.gov.in, the portal's Track Application page can be used with the application number issued there.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Fishing recorded during the notified ban. A boat observed at sea during the closed season disqualifies the claim regardless of the repairs done.
• Repair bills dated outside the ban period. The work has to fall inside the notified window, so keep dated invoices rather than a summary bill issued later.
• Boat not registered, or registration lapsed at the time of the claim.
• Dues outstanding with the Department or the co-operative society, which the field inquiry picks up directly.
• Age 60 or above on the date of application.
• Residence certificate short of five continuous years.
• Wrong hull type claimed. A fibre-reinforced plastic boat attracts Rs 5,000, not Rs 10,000, and claiming the higher figure delays the file.

The scheme does not publish a reconsideration route once the Selection Committee has completed shortlisting. A rejected owner's practical remedy is to correct the defect and claim after the following year's ban period.

Where to raise a grievance

Contact the Directorate of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Fishing Harbour Complex, Thengaithittu, Mudaliarpet Post, Puducherry 605 004, telephone 0413-2357761, email fish[dot]pon[at]nic[dot]in. Applicants in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam should first approach the regional sub-office listed on the Sub-Offices page of fisheries.py.gov.in.

For emergencies at sea, the Department publishes the Indian Coast Guard toll-free number 1554, the Coastal Police Station number 1093 and the State Emergency Operation Centre number 1077. No fee is charged for the application form or for registration under this grant.