Immediate Relief Assistance for Families of Missing Fishermen (Welfare and Relief for Fishermen Scheme)

What is Immediate Relief Assistance for families of missing fishermen?

Immediate Relief Assistance is a sub-component of the Welfare and Relief for Fishermen During Lean Seasons and Natural Calamities Scheme, run by the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Government of Puducherry. The component pays Rs 1,00,000 to the family or legal heir of a fisherman who goes missing while fishing, in two instalments of Rs 50,000 each.

The scheme was approved by the Lieutenant-Governor through G.O. Ms. No. 31/Fy., dated 6 September 2011, published in the Gazette of Puducherry on 13 September 2011. It extends to all four regions of the Union Territory, Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.

The stated objective is to compensate the family for the loss of the breadwinner and to support them financially to run the household. The distinction between "missing" and "deceased" matters here. The notification defines a missing fisherman as a fisherman reported by police and family members to be missing while fishing in the sea or any other water body, and treats such a person as deceased for the purpose of relief. A deceased fisherman is one reported by police and family to have lost his or her life while fishing, and the same notification provides Rs 1,00,000 as immediate death relief assistance in that case: paid in one go rather than in two parts.

Key features

• Rs 1,00,000 for the legal heir of a missing fisherman.
• Paid as Rs 50,000 within 3 months and Rs 50,000 after 9 months.
• Age band of 18 to 60 for the missing fisherman.
• Co-operative society membership is compulsory.
• Claim within 30 days of the event.
• Recoverable through an insurance bond if the fisherman returns.

Who is eligible for the immediate relief assistance?

You can apply if:

• You are the family or legal heir of the missing fisherman. The notification defines the eligible category to include husband or wife, children or step children, parents, widowed daughter or sister, the legal guardian of a minor, married daughters, widowed daughter-in-law and widowed brothers, with the basic principle that the first claimant is the immediate family dependent on the missing fisherman.
• The missing fisherman was a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The missing fisherman was lost while fishing in the sea or another water body.
• The missing fisherman was between 18 and 60 years of age.
• The missing fisherman was enrolled as a member of a Fishermen or Fisherwomen Co-operative Society.

You cannot apply if:

• The missing fisherman was a beneficiary of the old age pension scheme. The notification excludes such a person expressly.
• The missing fisherman was outside the 18 to 60 age band.
• The missing person was not enrolled in a Fishermen or Fisherwomen Co-operative Society.
• The disappearance was not connected with fishing.
• You have already received financial assistance from the Revenue Department for the same event and cannot obtain a "No Claim" certificate.
• More than 30 days have passed since the event without an application being lodged.

How is the Rs 1,00,000 released?

The two-part structure is deliberate, because a missing person may return.

• First instalment; Rs 50,000. Extended within 3 months from the date of receipt of the application, after scrutiny and approval of the Government.
• Second instalment, Rs 50,000. Deposited in a joint account in the name of the next of kin and the competent authority concerned. The family must approach the department for its release. If no further information about the missing person is received, the balance is released after the prescribed period of 9 months from the date of release of the first part.
• Recovery on return. If the missing fisherman returns, the amount already extended, Rs 50,000 or Rs 1,00,000 as the case may be: is recovered by invoking the insurance bond.
• Indemnity bond. An indemnity bond for Rs 1,00,000 is executed between the Director of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare and the next of kin, and the next of kin signs an undertaking to repay the amount along with an equal amount if the relative is traced later and the claim is found to have been fraudulent. The undertaking also records that penal action may follow under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code for a fraudulent claim.

How to apply for Immediate Relief Assistance

1. Report the disappearance to the police immediately and obtain the FIR and, in due course, the non-traceable certificate from the Station House Officer of the police station with jurisdiction. Nothing else in the process can proceed without this.
2. Publish and post the missing-person notice. Arrange an advertisement or newspaper report of the missing person in the vernacular language, and have the notice displayed at the Municipality or Commune Panchayat office, the ration shop and the police station.
3. Collect the prescribed form. Visit the office of the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare or the sub-office for your region, the list is published at fisheries.py.gov.in — and request the prescribed format of the application form from the concerned authority.
4. Fill the form and assemble the documents. Attach the FIR and non-traceable certificate, the co-operative society certificate, residence proof, the statements of the next of kin, panchayatars and last-seen witnesses, the notarised affidavit on Rs 5 stamp paper, the newspaper publication, the No Claim certificate from the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, and a photograph of the legal heir.
5. Submit within 30 days. Hand the duly filled and signed application with the documents to the concerned authority, and request a receipt or acknowledgement showing the date and time of submission and a unique identification number where one is issued.
6. Execute the indemnity bond and undertaking when the department calls for them, before the first instalment is released.

How is the claim verified?

A committee constituted for the purpose ascertains the genuineness of the missing-fisherman claim, finalises it and extends relief to the legal heir. The committee comprises:

• the Director of Fisheries;
• the Deputy Director of Fisheries (Welfare);
• the Deputy Director of Fisheries (Mechanisation);
• the Deputy Tahsildar or Village Administrative Officer of the Taluk Office of the concerned firka;
• the Station House Officer of the police station with jurisdiction; and
• two fishermen, such as elected local representatives of the village concerned.

This is why the witness statements and the society certificate carry weight, the committee includes the officials who can verify them directly.

Why do claims fail?

• No FIR or no non-traceable certificate. Report to the police on the day of the disappearance, not weeks later.
• Filed after 30 days. The notification asks families to apply immediately within 30 days of the event.
• No co-operative society membership. Fishermen working outside a society are not covered. Enrolment is the practical protection here.
• The missing person drew an old age pension. This is an express exclusion.
• Missing newspaper publication or witness statements. Both are listed requirements, and the committee relies on them.
• No "No Claim" certificate. Obtain it from the Revenue and Disaster Management Department before submitting.
• Refusal to execute the indemnity bond. The bond is a condition of release of the ex gratia amount.

What dates and figures should the family note?

• 30 days from the event. The application deadline.
• Rs 50,000 within 3 months. The first instalment.
• Rs 50,000 after 9 months. The balance, from the date of release of the first part.
• 18 to 60 years. The age band for the missing fisherman.
• Rs 1,00,000, the value of the indemnity bond.
• 15 days to 3 months. The release period for the parallel death relief assistance where the fisherman is confirmed dead.

How do I raise a grievance?

• Directorate of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Fishing Harbour Complex, Thengaithittu, Mudaliarpet Post, Puducherry - 605004, phone +91-413-2357761, email fish.pon@nic.in.
• Regional sub-offices in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, listed at fisheries.py.gov.in.
• Interpretation of the scheme is referred to the Director of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Puducherry, who is also Member-Secretary of the Pondicherry Fishermen Welfare and Distress Relief Society, and whose decision is final.
• Central portal: pgportal.gov.in.

For sea emergencies rather than claims, the department publishes the Indian Coast Guard toll-free number 1554, the Coastal Police Station number 1093, and the State Emergency Operation Centre, Puducherry number 1077.

How to check your application status

There is no online tracking portal for this component, the entire process runs offline through the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, so status checks depend on the acknowledgement you collect and direct follow-up rather than a website login.

1. Keep the acknowledgement from submission. When you hand in the application, ask the receiving office for a dated receipt or acknowledgement, and note the unique identification number if one is issued. Quote this number in every later follow-up, it is what the office uses to locate your file.
2. Track the first-instalment clock. The notification commits to releasing the first Rs 50,000 within 3 months of the department receiving the application. If that window has passed without word, that is the point to follow up, not before, since scrutiny and committee verification take time.
3. Call or visit the office that holds your file. Contact the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare headquarters at +91-413-2357761, or go in person to the sub-office at Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam if that is where you filed. Reference your acknowledgement number and ask specifically whether the verification committee has taken up your case, since the Director of Fisheries, the Deputy Directors, the Taluk officer, the police Station House Officer and the two fishermen representatives on the committee must all sign off before release.
4. Ask about the joint account for the second instalment. Once the first Rs 50,000 is released, the balance is deposited into a joint account in the name of the next of kin and the competent authority, and the family must approach the department to have it released after the 9-month period. This step needs an active request from you, it is not disbursed automatically, so status checks around month 9 should specifically ask whether the joint account has been opened and funded.
5. Check fisheries.py.gov.in for updates or notices. The department's portal at https://fisheries.py.gov.in/ does not carry an individual application tracker, but it is the source for any circular changing the process, and its contact page lists the sub-office numbers for Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam if the headquarters number does not apply to your case.