Subsidy for the Purchase of Fiber-reinforced Plastic Cattamaran/ Vallam/ Wooden Nava/ Marine Plywood Canoe With Nets under Financial Assistance for Availing Subsidy Components for the Development of Marine Fisheries

What is the traditional craft subsidy in Puducherry?

Subsidy for the Purchase of Fiber-reinforced Plastic Cattamaran/ Vallam/ Wooden Nava/ Marine Plywood Canoe With Nets is a capital subsidy of the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Government of Puducherry. It is one sub-component of the Union Territory's umbrella scheme, Financial Assistance for Availing Subsidy Components for the Development of Marine Fisheries.

Where the Department's other boat subsidies target mechanised vessels costing several lakh rupees, this component serves the traditional sector: the shore fishermen of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam who work from craft launched off the beach. The scheme covers four such craft, the fibre-reinforced plastic catamaran, the fibre-reinforced plastic vallam, the wooden nava and the marine plywood canoe, in each case with nets, plus a small component for inland catamarans.

The local names matter for anyone searching for the scheme. The kattumaram, transliterated "cattamaran" in the departmental notification, is the lashed-log craft from which the English word catamaran derives. The vallam is a plank-built boat of the Coromandel coast. The nava is a wooden craft of similar traditional design. Modern fibre-reinforced plastic versions of these hulls last far longer than the wooden originals and need less annual maintenance, which is why the Department subsidises the FRP variants at higher ceilings.

How much subsidy does the traditional craft scheme pay?

The pattern of assistance is a flat 50% with a ceiling by craft type:

Each of the first four is linked to the applicant's own finance or to a loan component from the National Co-operative Development Corporation or a bank. The Department adds that the rate of subsidy may be fixed by the Government from time to time.

The applicant's own contribution is not optional and not merely notional. The eligibility conditions require the applicant to be ready to deposit 50% of the cost of the craft and net with the Federation, the Marketing Union or the Fishermen Co-operative Society, as per the norms and pattern of assistance in force. The craft is then supplied through that co-operative channel.

Who is eligible for the traditional craft subsidy?

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 fishing.
• 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.
• If male, you have at least five years of sea fishing experience in mechanised, motorised or non-motorised traditional craft, certified by the owners of the craft you worked on.
• If female, you have five years of fish trade experience certified by the Village Panchayat concerned.
• You are ready to deposit 50% of the cost of the craft and net with the Federation, Marketing Union or Fishermen Co-operative Society.

You cannot apply if:

• 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 a Fishermen Co-operative Society on the date of application.
• You are a male applicant without five years of documented sea fishing experience. There is no waiver.
• You are a female applicant without five years of Village Panchayat-certified fish trade experience.
• You cannot or will not deposit your 50% share with the co-operative body.
• You are 60 or above, or under 23, or resident in Puducherry for less than five continuous years.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the traditional craft subsidy

1. Arrange your 50% share and, if needed, the loan. Approach a bank or the National Co-operative Development Corporation for the loan component and obtain the sanction order or written acceptance of sanction, or confirm you can meet the balance from your own finance.
2. Collect your experience certificate. Male applicants should obtain a certificate of at least five years of sea fishing experience from the owners of the craft they have worked on. Women applicants should obtain a five-year fish trade experience certificate from the Village Panchayat.
3. Visit the Department office at the Fishing Harbour Complex, Thengaithittu, Mudaliarpet Post, Puducherry 605 004, or the regional sub-office covering Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam, and request the prescribed subsidies application form. It is also published on fisheries.py.gov.in.
4. Complete the form, paste the passport-sized photograph and sign across it where required, and attach self-attested copies of every mandatory document listed above.
5. Submit the form and enclosures to the concerned authority, and ask for a dated acknowledgement with the date and time of submission and a unique identification number.
6. Deposit your 50% share with the Federation, Marketing Union or Fishermen Co-operative Society once you are selected, and take delivery of the craft and nets through that body.

How are beneficiaries selected?

An officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector of Fisheries conducts a field inquiry to verify the genuineness of the application, including the applicant's fishing background and the absence of dues. The scheme implementing officer, an Assistant Director or Deputy Director of Fisheries, records the verification and the recommendation.

The file then goes to 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). 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 from your acknowledgement and follow up at the office where you filed. Each office maintains an application receipt register recording the stage of the file. Where the application went through the Puducherry e-District portal at edistrict.py.gov.in, its Track Application page can be used with the number issued there.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• No sea fishing experience certificate. Male applicants without five documented years are rejected, and there is no waiver provision.
• Village Panchayat certificate missing for a woman applicant, or covering fewer than five years.
• Unable to deposit the 50% share. The craft is not released until the beneficiary's contribution reaches the co-operative body.
• Dues outstanding with the Department or the society, which the field inquiry picks up.
• Age 60 or above on the date of application.
• Residence certificate covering less than five continuous years. Ask the Deputy Tahsildar to certify the whole period, not just the current year.
• Wrong craft category claimed. A wooden nava carries a Rs 40,000 ceiling, not the Rs 1,00,000 that applies to an FRP vallam.

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.

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 for emergencies at sea. No fee is charged for the application form, and the only money a beneficiary pays is the 50% share deposited with the co-operative body against a receipt.