Question : Housing for Fishermen

(a) whether the Government is aware that the fund allocated under the housing project of the National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen is not adequate for construction of houses;
(b) if so, whether the Government proposes to implement any new scheme to provide more financial assistance to the fishermen keeping in mind the increasing prices of construction materials and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government is aware that the fishermen constructing houses under the said scheme got indebted due to the loan taken to complete the construction work of their houses;
(d) if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard; and
(e) whether the Union Government has received any representation from the State Government of Kerala to increase the amount of financial assistance as unit expenditure for construction of houses under the said scheme and if so, the action taken by the Union Government in this regard?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRYAND DAIRYING
(SHRI GIRIRAJ SINGH)
(a) to (e): A Statement is placed on the Table of the House.
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Statement referred to in reply to the Lok Sabha Starred Question No.-† 321 put in by Shri Omprakash Bhupalsinh Alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar and Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Hon’ble Members of Parliament due for answer on 16thJuly, 2019 regarding Housing for Fishermen

(a) & (b): Under the “National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen”, a component of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’, financial assistance is provided to fishermen for construction of houses at par with Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-Gramin) at the rate of Rs.1.20 Lakh per unit to General States and at the rate of Rs.1.30 Lakhs per unit to Himalayan and North Eastern States. During the last five years, central funds of Rs. 104.69 crore have been released to the States/UTs for construction of 18,920 Nos. of houses for fishermen.
To address the enhanced construction cost, Government of India has revised the total unit cost of fishermen house from Rs.50,000/- to Rs.75,000/- during May 2014 and from Rs.75,000/- to the present unit cost of Rs. 1.20 lakh for General States and Rs. 1.30 lakh for Himalayan and North Eastern States during 2016, in alignment with Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-Gramin). Presently there is no proposal under consideration in the Department of Fisheries to implement any new scheme for providing more financial assistance towards construction of fishermen houses.
(c) & (d) The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has not received any information regarding indebtedness of fishermen due to loan taken to complete the construction work of their houses.
(e). The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has not received representation from the State Government of Kerala to increase the amount of financial assistance for construction of housing units to fishermen.
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