Hyderabad: Jilamoni Venkatesh, a house painter, lost his father on January 7, 2019, who was a fisherman in the Yacharam village of Rangareddy district. Jilamoni Narayana, the deceased, died of an electric shock and an ex-gratia Rs 6 lakh was supposed to be given to his family as part of a central government scheme for fishermen.
However, nearly four years since Narayana’s death, his family has not yet received the ex-gratia amount that is due. The insurance (group accident insurance scheme) is granted to fishermen across the country under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
According to the guidelines laid down for the scheme, “Payment of compensation will be made directly to the claimant or Nominee or his/her legal heir/s into their savings account/s through DBT while intimating the same to Insurance Cell at NFDB and respective State/ District Fisheries Department. In case where the deceased has 2 spouses or 2 or more unmarried daughters or 2 or more sons or 2 or more grand children or 2 or more married daughters, then the claimant/s will have to submit affidavit of No Objection from the other legal heirs in the same category or the proceeds will be paid as per prevailing law upon obtaining of the succession certificate or as certified by the “Appropriate Authority”.
Speaking to Siasat.com, Venkatesh remarked that despite repeated attempts and submitting all the required documents, the ex-gratia amount hasn’t come through. He says that with mounting debt of around Rs 4 lakhs, no real property aside from his house to stake claim to, his family is in dire straits. Other families of fishermen are also grappling with the same problem in Telangana.
Gudimalla Marayya, another fisherman in Arutla village, in Telangana’s Rangareddy district, passed away in 2020 in an accident while fishing in a pond. His son, Giri, a labourer remarks that they had to deal with mounting debts shortly after his father’s demise. Unlike Venkatesh, Giri remarks that his family received some compensation as a result of the Rythu Bandhu scheme but they have been deprived of the group accident insurance scheme.
“We are in desperate need of money. There are mounting responsibilities; the government is being negligent- nirlakshyam,” says Giri.
Overlap with Rythu Bandhu
“This problem has existed for a while now for fishermen. In Telangana, if a fisherman who also happens to do farming, passes away, his family is entitled to compensation under Rythu Bandhu (the state’s flagship welfare program to support farmer’s investment). However, once the direct benefit transfer under Rythu Bandhu comes through, the group accident insurance scheme cannot be availed,” says Gorenkala Narsimha, the president of Telangana Matsyakarulu Matsya Karmika Sangham (TMKMKS), the state fishing community’s workers’ union.
Narsimha remarks that in Rangareddy district alone, he knows of seven to eight families of fishermen who haven’t received their ex-gratia amount. “As per the scheme guidelines, the families are supposed to receive Rs 4 lakhs from the Centre and Rs 2 lakhs from the state,” he remarked.
Administrative issues, paper-work problems
Further, Founding President of Telangana Fisheries Society, Pittala Ravinder remarks that this problem persists for fishermen in other districts of Telangana. “Either Centre’s funds come through and the state government’s aren’t cleared or the compensation amount isn’t given because there are loopholes in the investigation of the death. Further, the lack of literacy on welfare policies like the accident insurance scheme, renders them distraught,” he remarks.
When contacted, an official from the insurance cell of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) remarked that while several cases were pending, the reason could be attributed to a documentation problem. “The minute a candidate is declared eligible for insurance, we ensure that the money goes to the insurance company and then the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) takes place,” said the official about the issues being faced by families of fishermen.
The TMKMKS on December 2 submitted a representation to Rangareddy District Revenue Officer (DRO) hoping for a solution. They had also held a dharna at the District Collectorate’s office to get their greivances addressed. However, no solution has cropped up as of yet.
