The Tamil Nadu government’s 50 per cent subsidy scheme designed to wean away fishermen of the Palk Bay area from trawler fishing to tuna longliner and avoid conflicts with the Sri Lankan navy is all set for launch on Thursday with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa distributing the work order.
After the government announced the scheme in February last year, fishermen from the coastal districts of Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram had submitted applications to opt for the deep sea fishing. The government after scrutinising the applications, selected batches of fishermen in these districts, official sources here said.
Marking the launch of the much-awaited scheme, the Chief Minister would give work orders to five batches of fishermen on Thursday for constructing the boats, each costing about Rs 60 lakh, the sources said.
At least 15 fishermen, constituting three batches — one batch of five fishermen from Rameswaram and two batches of 10 fishermen, who returned in September 2013 after languishing in Iranian prisons for nine months have left for Chennai on Tuesday evening to receive the work orders, the sources said.
In the 2013-14 budget, the government had announced raising of the subsidy from 25 to 50 per cent with a ceiling of Rs.30 lakh.
