As promised to Nishads, the boatmen and fishermen community, in the Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra during polls, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed government officials to work expeditiously on the ‘Nishadraj boat subsidy scheme’ through which the government will provide 40 per cent subsidy to fishermen for purchasing boats up to Rs 1 lakh.
Fully funded by the state government, the scheme will also encourage fish exports.
The process of inviting fishermen to claim this subsidy would begin soon, a government spokesman said here on Thursday.
The fishermen living on the banks of the rivers earn their livelihood by catching fish through boats and selling them in the markets. But, due to financial constraints, they are not able to carry out the task smoothly. The government has started making efforts for their uplift.
The UP budget for 2022-23 has earmarked Rs 2 crore for the Nishadraj boat subsidy scheme which is mainly meant for 17 sub-castes under the 'Machhua' community -- Kewat, Mallah, Nishad, Bind, Dheemar, Kashyap, Raikwar, Turaha, Manjhi, Gond, Kahar, Batham and Godia besides others.
There are a large number of fishermen in Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot and other such districts and they are dependent on the rivers. Concerned about their livelihood, the government is consistently making efforts towards their welfare.
Along with the boat subsidy, under the Mukhyamantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, which is the other new scheme catering to the fishermen community, there are two projects to benefit the poor and backward lease holders from the community in the gram sabhas. The aim is to also increase fish production in the ponds in the rural areas.