Panaji: Fisheries Minister Nilkant Halarnkar has rued the poor response to the central government sponsored schemes for fishermen in the coastal state.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji on Monday, Halarnkar said that his department has received the funds amounting to Rs 144.18 lakh in the year 2017-18 under the centrally sponsored scheme Blue Revolution for the component ‘Open Sea Cage Culture’ from the central Ministry of Fisheries.
He said since then. Only one beneficiary has taken the benefit under the scheme by setting up 20 cages at Betul (South Goa) and Rs 16.315 lakh has been released to the beneficiary as a Financial Assistance.
“A fund of Rs 127.865 lakhs remained unutilized with the State Fisheries Department,” he said.
Halarnkar said that in the year 2020, the Fisheries department notified “Goa State Mariculture Policy 2020” to promote open sea cage culture in the State.
“However, till date there are no interested applicants for the same,” he said.
The minister said that in this regard, there was a need to amend the policy and change the eligibility criteria to influence more persons from the local community to engage in the business of Cage Culture and learn the techniques from established business entities in this field,thereby creating local self entrepreneurs in the field of Cage Culture in Goa.
