Lok Sabha Question No. 4044 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-25
Subject: Beneficiaries under PMMSY
Ministry: FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
Asked by: Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth, Shri Manickam Tagore B

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4044 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 TH  MARCH, 2025

## Beneficiaries under PMMSY

## 4044.  Shri Manickam Tagore B: Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth

## :

Will the Minister of FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps taken by the Government to ensure that the financial aid for boat upgrades and  replacements  reaches  the  intended  beneficiaries,  especially  in  remote  and  coastal areas where fishermen may lack awareness of these schemes;
- (b) the  success  of  the  PMMSY  in  providing  subsidies  for  safety  gear  and  insurance coverage for fishing  vessels  and  whether there  have  been  any  significant  challenges  in implementing these aspects of the scheme;
- (c) the details of PMMSY includes provisions for livelihood support during fishing bans or lean periods and the specific measures are being taken to ensure that this assistance is timely and reaches all eligible fishermen, especially those from marginalized communities;
- (d) whether the Government ensuring the smooth formation and growth of Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) under PMMSY and the steps are being taken to improve the economic standard of fishermen through these organizations; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI GEORGE KURIAN)

(a) and (b) : The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of  Fisheries, Animal  Husbandry  and Dairying,  Government  of  India  has  been  implementing  a  flagship  scheme  the  Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) in all States and Union Territories for holistic development  of  fisheries  and  aquaculture  in  the  country.  The  PMMSY  has  been implemented with a plethora of activities including upgradation of existing fishing vessels, insurance, livelihood supports, formation of Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs), training and capacity building, awareness creation and outreach activities along with many other beneficiaries oriented and  non-beneficiaries-oriented activities. Department  of Fisheries through the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and in coordination with respective State Fisheries Department has been organizing various outreach programs for  creation  of  awareness  and  popularizing  PMMSY  through  campaign,  awareness programs, workshops to ensure that the financial aid for boat upgrades and replacements and other activities  is  reached tothe intended beneficiaries. To create awareness among the fishermen in remote coastal areas, door to door campaigns were also organized through various  programmes  such  as  Sagar  Parikrama,  Matsya  Sampada  Jagruthi  Abyyanand publicity through various print media, electronic media, digital media and mass media.

The  beneficiaries  oriented  activities  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  (CSS)  of PMMSY have been implemented in association  with  the  State  Governments  and  Union Territories  (UTs)  and  the  Governmental  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  the  eligible beneficiaries through the concerned State Governments and UTs. To bring more efficiency in  cash  management  at  both  Centre  and  State  levels,  the  Department  of  Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has notified an alternative fund flow mechanism for releasing central funds  to  the  State  Governments  on  'Just-in-Time'  basis  under  Centrally  Sponsored Schemes (CSS). This new system has been named as SNA-SPARSH wherein the PMMSY has been on boarded and under this new system, fund is directly transferred to beneficiary's account.

The National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad has been implementing the activity of insurance to fishing vessels under PMMSY. The major challenges faced in implementation of this activities include involvement of multiple categories with various dimensions of  fishing vessels,  acceptability  and  adoptability  of  vessels  insurance  by  the  beneficiaries,  higher premium  amount,  inadequate  response  from  the  insurance  companies,  collection  and compilation base  data, arrival of consensus  among  the  stakeholders and State Governments/UTs on the modalities of fishing vessels insurance and arriving at consent on premium rate and  sum assured.

(c) : The  Pradhan  Mantri  Matsya  Sampada  Yojana  (PMMSY)  inter-alia    provides Livelihood and nutritional support for socio-economically backward active traditional fisher's families  for  conservation  of  fish  resources  during  fishing  ban/lean  period  implemented annually. Under the scheme, the Government assistance of Rs. 3000/- per beneficiary is provided  annually  and  beneficiary  contribute  of  Rs.  1500/-  annually.  This  accumulated amount of Rs. 4500 is released to enrolled beneficiaries during the three months of fishing ban/lean periods. The governmental assistance of Rs, 3,000 is shared between the central and  states  in  the  ratio  of  50:50  for  general  State,    80:20  for  North  Eastern  States  and Himalayan States while 100% for UTs.During the last four years (2020-21 to 2023-24) and current financial year (2024-25), an average 5.95 lakh fishers annually with a total investment of Rs. 1384.80 crore with central share of Rs. 490.84 crore were provided livelihood and Nutritional support.

(d) and (e) : The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana(PMMSY) envisages setting up of  Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) to economically empower the fishers and fish farmers and enhance their bargaining power.  Formation and promotion of FFPOs is supported  under  the  Central  Sector  Scheme  Component  of  PMMSY  with  100%  central funding.  The  support  provided  primarily  include  FFPO  formation  and  incubation  cost, management cost and equity grant. In addition, one-time registration cost of incorporating FFPOs  under  Companies  Act  or  registering  under  Co-operative  Societies  Act  is  also provided. Capacity  building, training  and  skill  development  of  the  Chief  Executive Offices(CEOs)/  Board  of  Directors  (BoDs)  and  other  stakeholders  is  provided  under PMMSY  for  development  of  robust  FFPOs  and  for  running  the  business  activities successfully on a self-sustainable basis. The capacity building, training and skill development inter-alia focus on vertical and horizontal aspects of fisheries value chain with managerial aspects including accounting, value addition, processing, and marketing and transfer  of  technology  and  innovations  to  improve  the  economic  standard  of  fishermen through  formation  of  FFPOs.  The  Department  of  Fisheries,  Government  of  India  has sanctioned proposals to National Cooperatives Development Corporation (NCDC), Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) and NFDB for formation of 195 new FFPOs and strengthening the existing 2000 primary fishermen cooperative societies as FFPOs  at a total cost of Rs. 544.86 crore under PMMSY.

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