The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Fishermen Debt Relief Commission Bill passed

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Fishermen Debt Relief Commission Bill passed

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Assembly on Wednesday gave its unanimous nod to the ‘Kerala Fishermen Debt Relief Commission Bill, 2007,’ envisaging the setting up of a commission for recommending relief measures to fishermen in distress due to indebtedness.

Piloting the Bill, Fisheries Minister S. Sharma said indebtedness was a major issue among the fishermen, who constitute one of the poorest communities in the State. They were also being ruthlessly exploited by private money lenders.

The commission, the character of which is more or less similar to the Farmer’s Debt Relief Commission formed by the government last year, will have powers to recommend to the government loan waiver, interest waiver and loan re-scheduling to help indebted fishermen. It will also have powers to negotiate with private money lenders to fix the debt in individual cases at fair levels, since the practice of charging interest at very exorbitant rates is widely prevalent among the private money lenders.

The commission is to be headed by a retired High Court judge.

It will have as members an expert in fisheries science, social science or finance management; a representative of traditional fishermen and a representative of the cooperative sector.

During the discussion, the Opposition members pointed out that the allocation of Rs.10 crore provided in the State budget for fishermen’s debt relief programme was too inadequate.

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