The Union government has said that it has no plans to cut fisheries subsidies. Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala told the Lok Sabha that India had taken a stand at the recent meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the subsidies would not be reduced.
The Minister was replying to questions raised by MPs Hibi Eden and M.K. Raghavan in the Lok Sabha. The questions were raised in the wake of the 12th ministerial-level conference of the WTO held in Geneva. Fisheries subsidies figured prominently in the discussions.
The Union Minister said that marine fishing was mostly practised in the small-scale sector in India, and that large-scale fishing was not being carried out by private corporations in the country.
Meanwhile, Charles George of Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedhi said the fisheries sector was not getting any substantial subsidy. He said even kerosene supply had been cut substantially. While the PDS price of kerosene was ₹103 a litre, the price in the open market was ₹123. Traditional fishers using kerosene were not getting even 10% of the commodity, he added.
