PANJIM: In a bid to provide hygienic transportation facilities of fish to the fisherman, the Directorate of Fisheries has announced a new scheme ‘Financial Assistance for the Purchase of Insulated Truck of a minimum 10 tonne capacity’ which will come into force from the financial Year 2018-19.
Under this scheme the beneficiary will be entitled for financial assistance to the extent of 40 per cent of the unit cost limited to Rs 8,00,000 per truck for general category and 60 per cent of the unit cost limited to Rs 12,00,000 per truck for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), women and their co-operatives.
“This scheme has been introduced to provide hygienic transportation facilities of fish to the fisherman. Fish is a highly perishable food which needs proper handling and preservation if it is to have a long shelf life and retain a desirable quality and nutritional value. The concern of fish processing is to prevent fish from deteriorating. The method used to preserve fish is to control the temperature using ice, refrigeration or freezing,” reads the order.
The order further states that, “When fish is captured or harvested for commercial purposes, it needs some pre-processing so it can be delivered to the next part of the marketing chain in a fresh and undamaged condition. Thus this scheme enables the fishermen to transport fish keeping up the required temperature. At the time of peak season the fisherman finds it very difficult to hire insulated vehicle which are presently low in number and is unable to cope up with the requirement of the boat owner.”
To avail the scheme, the beneficiary will have to possess NOC issued by the Directorate of Fisheries for the purchase of Insulated Truck of a minimum 10 tonne capacity. The beneficiary shall produce the original GST bill from the authorised dealer towards the purchase of Insulated Truck of a minimum 10 tonne capacity to claim the subsidy.
Further, the beneficiary will have to possess a certificate from panchayat/fisheries officer indicating that applicant is actively engaged in sale of fish for more than 3 years whereas the beneficiary shall not be defaulter of department.
“The operational cost of the Insulated Truck purchased through the scheme should be maintained by the beneficiary only,” the order states.
Meanwhile, the circular states that “This Insulated Truck is financed under the CSS Blue Revolution scheme of Government of India through the Directorate of Fisheries, Government of Goa” or as instructed by the Department should be displayed on Insulated Truck.
