The Madras High Court has disapproved of State government’s plan to fix Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed transponders on 6,000 fishing boats in a phased manner spread over seven years.
The court has asked the government to speed up the process and fix the transponders as and when they were supplied by the manufacturers.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad issued the directions after it was brought to their notice that Fisheries Secretary K. Gopal had written to the Centre on February 27 for providing 75% subsidy to fix the transponders aimed at preventing the fishermen from crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
Estimated cost
The court was told that the cost of each transponder, including a device to provide dedicated power supply, was about ₹50,000. If another ₹10,000 was added towards contingency fund for other accessories including the software required to connect the transponders to ground stations through GSAT-6, the total cost worked out to ₹60,000 per boat.
Since 500 such transponders had already been fitted in the boats for a pilot project, the government had decided to fix the transponders in the remaining 5,500 boats in a phased manner spread over seven years after taking into consideration several factors including the production capacity of the units which assemble the transponders.
The State government had urged the Centre to bear 75% of the total expense of ₹33 crore that would required to fix the transponders. While the State would provide a subsidy of another 15% of the total cost, the beneficiaries would have to bear only 10% of the cost which would work out to ₹ 9,000 per boat, the court was told.
After recording the submissions made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by Fishermen Care, a non-governmental organisation represented by its president L.T.A. Peter Ryan, the judges adjourned further hearing on the case to March 11 to ascertain the stand of the Centre on the State government’s proposal.
The petitioner had filed the case seeking a direction to the Centre to refer to the International Court of Justice all issues related to alleged violation of human rights by the Sri Lankan Navy against Indian fishermen on the high seas.
However, the judges decided to utilise the case for finding a solution to problems faced by fishermen who claim to have been attacked within the International Maritime Boundary Line.
