Ockhi: Kerala govt mulls Rs 2,000 crore rehab pack

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government is mulling a Rs 2,000-crore rehabilitation package for fishermen community, funded by an external agency, after Centre gave a cold shoulder to its rehabilitation package, worth Rs 7,340.45 crore, following cyclone Ockhi. The government had submitted a request for the rehab package in December 2017.
Aseven-member committee, headed by the principal secretary (fisheries), was also formed to follow up on the package, but till date no response has been received from the Centre.At this juncture, a committee headed by former chief secretary S M Vijayanand is in the process of formulating another package (worth Rs 2000 crore) which, the government hopes to implement by borrowing funds at nominal interests from external agencies.
“There has been no response from the Centre towards the rehab package. At present, we are already undertaking projects worth Rs 1,000 crore using budgetary funds and assistance from Nabard in fisheries sector. With Centre showing no signs of allocating fund, we are working on a new package. We will be looking at borrowing Rs 2000 crore from agencies with low interest rates to implement the package,” said fisheries minister J Mercy Kutty Amma. The committee is expected to finetune the proposal in three months.
Following Ockhi cyclone, the government had requested an additional aid of Rs 431 crore from the national disaster response fund. The Centre, however, acknowledged aid to the tune of Rs 169.63 crore and it was communicated that an amount of Rs 111.70 crore can be legally allocated. An amount of Rs 133 crore was allocated as emergency assistance following Ockhi but it came with a note that the additional amount of Rs 21.3 crore will be deducted from future allocations.
The state government had distributed 20 lakh each to families of 91 missing fishermen and 22 lakh each to families of 51 Ockhi victims. The fisheries department had estimated a loss (187 boats and 446 nets) and administrative sanction was accorded to Rs 9 crore which was planned as compensation towards loss of fishing equipment.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the fisheries minister have recently forwarded communication to the Centre seeking a response on rehabilitation package.