The Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food Processing has urged the government to register all fishermen across the nation to ensure they can benefit from existing schemes and policies. This registration will also assist the government in refining policies to target specific groups more effectively.
In its third report submitted to Parliament on December 17, the Committee highlighted that out of the 2.8 crore individuals involved in the fisheries sector—comprising fishers, fish farmers, and other stakeholders—only 8.60 lakh individuals and 3,393 organizations are currently registered under the National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP).
The Committee recommended that the Department of Fisheries adopt proactive strategies and develop effective initiatives to reach out to the unregistered fishermen.
Additionally, the panel, led by Lok Sabha MP and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, suggested that the government extend the flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) Phase-II for another five years, from FY26 to FY30. This extended phase should concentrate on enhancing value-added infrastructure to boost seafood exports, developing fisheries in islands such as the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, and promoting the adoption of advanced technologies to modernize the sector.
The Committee also proposed that under PMMSY, the government should conduct proactive advertising and publicity campaigns to achieve a target of 12 kg of fish per capita domestic consumption, as fish serves as an affordable source of protein.
Moreover, the Committee expressed concern about the Department of Fisheries’ underutilization of budget allocations and urged action to rectify this issue. Despite having a new financial system in place for over three years, the underutilization of funds persists, indicating a need for the Department to make “serious efforts” and proactively collaborate with state governments and fisheries departments to yield positive outcomes.
The Committee emphasized that effective and targeted implementation of the department’s schemes is crucial for the socio-economic upliftment of fishermen, particularly traditional fishers. It pointed out that actual spending under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme has shown a downward trend since 2021-22 compared to revised estimates. The consistent underutilization of allocated amounts at the Revised Estimates stage reflects inadequate planning and assessment of funding needs, overlooking the realities on the ground.
Highlighting the issue of publicity spending, the report noted that while ₹1 crore and ₹2.4 crore was fully utilized for publicity under PMMSY in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively, only ₹46.37 lakh out of ₹8 crore and ₹50 lakh out of ₹8.51 crore allocated for the same purpose in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively, were actually spent.
