JOIN USFisherwomen can now heave a sigh of relief from the excess burden of hefty interest rates for the loans they borrowed. ‘Matsya Swavalambana Yojane’ introduced by the State government enables a fisherwoman to take a loan summing upto Rs 4,000 without interest.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Assistant Director of Fisheries (Udupi district) Harish K informed that the programme is carried out by Fisheries Cooperative Societies. A maximum of Rs 2 lakhs is given to the Society, through which each fisherwoman can borrow a loan of Rs 4,000 without any interest rates being charged, he added.
The basic aim of the programme is to facilitate fisherwomen who are engaged in wholesale fishing business. They purchase fishes worth Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 from the vendors and sell it in the market. They make use of this money as the capital sum.
The borrowers should pay Rs 500 every month, so that they can repay their loan amount as fast as possible. They can borrow the loan for second time after the repayment, but preferences will be given for the first timer. The scheme is a kind of revolving fund system, he said.
There are 42 co-operative societies in the district. A sum of Rs 32 lakhs have been released to all these cooperative societies for the purpose. Similar type of project has been taken up by Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District Fish Sellers Federation. The Government has released a fund of Rs 2 crore to the Federation to facilitate fisherwomen, who are engaged in wholesale fishing trade.
It’s the time for fisher folks to experiment with new varieties of fish breeds that are bred in Bhadra River project habitats. Katla, Rohu, Mrigal are three special varieties of fishes that have been bred by the fishermen with the support of District Fisheries Department.
Harish informed that these fishes are bred in Bhadra River project and the eggs are developed up to fry size and then are distributed to different taluk egg wearing centers, he added.
It is here these fishes are reared up to fingerling size and are distributed among farmers and fishermen who are interested in fishing cultivation. The programme has been already in action and as many as 3 lakh fingerlings have been distributed across the district, he added.