MADURAI: Tuna longline fishing vessels introduced by the Centre under the diversification scheme of trawlers into deep sea fishing boats did not yield the desired results, N Devadoss, president of Rameswaram Fishermen Cooperative Society, said.
Initially, when the centrally sponsored ‘Blue Revolution’ scheme was launched in 2018 primarily aimed at avoiding conflict with Sri Lanka over cross-border fishing, many local fishermen thought it was a wise investment and switched over to longliners, but it turned out to be an expensive mistake. The fishermen were motivated to buy longliner vessels each at an estimated cost of Rs 80 lakh with contributions from Union and State governments. But it was much more expensive when it comes to sea since total cost rose to Rs 1.30 crore.
Totally, 32 beneficiaries availed of the facility in Ramanathapuram district, but the scheme did not prove cost-effective. Devadoss, who calls himself one of the beneficiaries, said he was facing hardship in repaying the bank loan. A 57-year-old, R Sahayam, another beneficiary from Thangachimadam, said when the scheme was rolled out, priority was accorded to the Tamil Nadu fishermen held in detention by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Sahayam said he was asked to contribute Rs 8 lakh and Rs 40 lakh as a major contribution from the central government, Rs16 lakh from State government, and Rs 16 lakh as bank loan. However, since he could not repay loan, he was listed as a loan defaulte.
However, official sources denied such allegations as baseless. Several beneficiaries were enjoying the scheme. Only after becoming aware of the cost outlay, the beneficiaries themselves agreed to the scheme.