The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Loan waiver may be beset with problems

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Saturday, Mar 15, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Loan waiver may be beset with problems

K.P.M. Basheer

Kerala could be the biggest beneficiary of fisheries loan waiver

Kerala produces largest volume of seafood
Hard to quantify debt or identify beneficiaries

KOCHI: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s clarification on Thursday that the agricultural loan waiver plan would cover fish workers’ loans too has brought a sense of relief to Kerala’s fisheries sector.

In his budget speech, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had proposed to set aside Rs.60,000 crore for farmers’ debt relief, but had made no mention of the fisheries sector. In India, fisheries are considered an allied activity of agriculture and, administratively, fisheries come under the Union Agriculture Ministry. Trade unions had made a strong demand that the debt relief benefit should be extended to fish workers too.

If properly implemented, it is pointed out, Kerala will be the biggest beneficiary of the loan waiver among the nine fishing States. Kerala has the largest number of people engaged in fishing among the States; it produces the largest volume of seafood; and, its share of seafood export is the largest. The fishing sector here is said to be the most unionised, the most organised and progressive. Also, Kerala has been in the forefront of legislative measures for fish workers’ welfare. For instance, on March 19, a Bill facilitating the setting up of fisheries debt relief commission will be moved in the Assembly.

Procedural problems

However, sources in the fishing sector point out though the fisheries debt relief sounds very attractive and welcome, the implementation process will face several procedural problems. Fisheries debt is a complex issue and the write-off/relief will be complicated. This is because of the difficulty in quantifying debt, the complex nature of seafood production, as different layers are involved; the big role of money-lenders, traditional intermediaries and informal credit agencies.

Quantifying fisheries debt is very complex. There are no firm statistics — only guess estimates based on assumptions and projections are available. D. Sanjiv Ghosh, former commissioner of Fishermen’s Welfare Fund Board, says the debt burden would be as high as Rs.2,000 crore.

His figure, however, includes roughly Rs.200 crore the State government owes to the Central agencies (such as National Cooperative Development Corporation and National Backward Classes Financial Development Corporation) by way of money borrowed to be lent to the fish workers; the loans given by Matsyafed; and such like.

Eligibility

Who is a fish worker is a little hard to determine in the context of debt relief as only fish workers are eligible for relief. The National Fishing Policy 2004 categorises fish producers into three broad categories: traditional fish workers whose main source of livelihood is catching fish; small-scale fishing boat owners; and, industrial fishing boat owners. In Kerala, many traditional fish workers double up as boat owners. For instance, a large inboard ‘vallom’ costing about Rs. 40 lakh, could be owned by a group of 15 or 20 workers.

A fisheries loan is different from agricultural loan in many respects — for one, an agricultural loan is in most cases given to an individual farmer and the farmer is easily identifiable by his specific occupation.

The fish workers have generally taken loans for three major purposes: for purchasing means of production such as boats and nets; home loans; and, children’s education and weddings. Only the first category qualifies for debt relief, but three types of loans could not be easily separated.

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