Telangana fishermen seek end to contractor system in fingerling scheme

Fishermen in Telangana are demanding reforms to the State’s fish distribution scheme, citing poor quality fingerlings supplied by contractors. They want cooperative societies to directly procure fingerlings, with government reimbursement through DBT, to safeguard livelihoods and improve fish production.

Hyderabad: The fishermen community in Telangana has raised concerns against the State government over the poor quality of fishlings (fingerlings) being released into local water bodies. To fix this, community leaders want officials to scrap the current contractor system. Instead, they urge the government to let local cooperative societies buy the fishlings directly.

Fisheries officials usually start distributing fishlings between July and August. The department typically floats tenders in April to finalize suppliers on time. However, officials have delayed the process this year without offering any clear explanation, according to Erva Venkatesham, Secretary of the Telangana Gangaputra Community Development Organisation.

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While the free fishling scheme remains a good initiative, poor execution is hurting local livelihoods. Every year, the Fisheries department aims to release 90 crore fishlings across more than 26,000 water bodies in the state. Around five lakh fishermen families rely on this scheme to earn a living.

To address the issue, Venkatesham suggested that the government allow societies to select and buy the fishlings themselves. The State government could then reimburse the costs through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). He explained that this approach would benefit both fishermen and the government.

Selecting fishlings requires careful work, as societies inspect local soil and water conditions before choosing suitable varieties. In contrast, contractors ignore these specific needs and supply uniform fishlings, which reduces overall fish production.

The organization submitted an official representation on the matter to Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju on Monday. 

In the past, local fishermen cooperative societies ran their own fish farms, but these facilities have since fallen into neglect. As a result, Telangana now relies on suppliers in Andhra Pradesh, where farms operate professionally to supply quality fishlings.