Team Herald
PANJIM: Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar on Monday said that the Central government-sponsored schemes for fishermen had evoked a poor response in the State.
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Speaking to reporters at the Minister’s Block, Porvorim, Halarnkar said that the Fisheries Department had received funds amounting to Rs 144 crore in 2017-2018 under the “Blue Revolution” scheme for the component “Open Sea Cage Culture” from the Union Ministry of Fisheries.
Halarnkar said that the then fisheries minister Vinod Paliencar did not take initiative to promote the scheme and since then, only one beneficiary came forward to set up 20 cages at Betul in South Goa and Rs 16.31 lakh was released to the beneficiary as financial aid.
“A fund of Rs 127.86 crore remained unutilised with the Fisheries Department,” he said.
The Minister further said that the Fisheries Department had earlier notified the Goa State Mariculture Policy 2020 to promote open sea cage culture but has failed to find interested applicants.
Halarnkar said that the scope of the policy was widened due to poor response from Goans.
