 bill no 99 of  2012 the fishermen (welfare) bill, 2012 by shri ss ramasubbu, mp a billto provide for the welfare of fishermen in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-third year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the fishermen welfare act, 2012short title and commencement5(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central  government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "board" means the fishermen welfare board established under section 3 (ii) "fisherman" means a person engaged in fishing and fishing related workssuch as repairing, maintaining and manning boats, nets and other equipments used infishing or peeling, drying and selling of fish and solely dependent on the income earner from selling of fish; and(iii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, set up a board to be known as the fishermen welfare board5fishermen welfare board(2) the board shall be a body corporate, by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of properties, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall, by the said name, sue or be sued(3) the board shall consist of,—10(i) a chairperson and four other members to be appointed by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed;(ii) not more than one representative each from the littoral states and union territories to be nominated by the respective state governments and union territories administrations;15(4) the salaries and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson and other members of the board shall be such as may be prescribed(5) the central government shall provide to the board such number of officers and staff as may be necessary for the efficient functioning of the board4 (1) the board shall formulate a scheme for the welfare of fishermen20(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, such a scheme shall also provide for—board to formulate a scheme for welfare of fishermen(i) provision of  boats, nets, jetties and life boats at concessional rates; (ii) provision of loan facilities for purchasing of  boats, nets and life boats; (iii) provision of cold storage facilities for fish and other 'catches' by fishermen at subsidized rates;25(iv) facilitating the export of fish;(v) transportation facility of  processed fish to seaport or airport for the purpose of export at concessional rates;(vi) insurance facilities;30(vii) free health care facilities to fishermen and their family members; (viii) old age pension;(ix) subsistence allowance during such situations as floods, storms or rains when fishermen cannot go into sea for fishing; and(x) housing facilities at concessional rates355 notwithstanding anything in this act or any other law for the time being in force, the central government shall pay compensation of—compensation in case of death or serious injury(i) rupees ten lakh to the nearest kin of a fisherman in case of his death, or; (ii) rupees five lakh to the fisherman in case of a serious injury to him due toany accident while catching fish on the high seas or actions of the pirates406 (1) where a fisherman while fishing is imprisoned by a foreign country on account of straying into territorial waters of that country or is kidnapped by any person including pirates, the central government shall take all necessary measures to facilitate the early release and transportation of fishermen to his homerelease of fishermen from imprisonment by a foreign country(2) the central government shall pay a subsistence allowance of rupees three thousand per month in such manner as may be prescribed to the family of a fisherman imprisoned under the circumstances referred to sub-section (1) till the fisherman is released and brought home5grants by the central government7 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by lawin this behalf,  provide to the board by way of grants such sums of money as the central government may think fit for being utilized for the purposes of this actpower to make rules8 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of the act1015(2) every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsfishing is an important occupation for lakhs of people in our country since ancient times the fish is processed and exported to many countries thereby generating a considerable monetary benefit to the country fishing industry provides employment to lakhs of people directly or indirectly fish is consumed by many people and fish oil is also used in making medicineslakhs of fishermen are involved in this occupation but the difficulties the fishermen are facing are manifold fishing is seasonal occupation in the sense that fishermen cannot go into sea throughout the year for fishing there is also no facility for processing, storage, marketing, transportation and export of fish moreover, a fisherman has to pay huge rent for boats, etc which he has to hire during fishing and on a given day, he may not earn anything besides, in the recent times, fishermen are facing another grave situation of being fired upon, killed or attacked either by mistake or deliberately by defence forces of another country on the plea of intruding into the territorial waters of that country there have been many instances when our fishermen were killed or captured or imprisoned and tortured the chances of being kidnapped by pirates on the high seas also add to their problemsno compensation or subsistence allowance is given by the government in such casesa mechanism for the welfare of fishermen is absolutely essential and the bill aims at in that directionhence this billnew delhi;s s  ramasubbuaugust 7, 2012 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for setting up of a fishermen welfare board clause 4provides that the board shall formulate a scheme for the welfare of fishermen clause 5 provides for compensation to a fisherman in case of death or serious injury clause 6 provides for subsistence allowance to the family of fishermen while they are imprisoned in a foreign country clause 7 provides for grants by the central government the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve a recurring expenditure of about rupees ten thousand crore per annuma non-recurring expenditure of rupees five thousand crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for the welfare of fishermen in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri ss ramasubbu, mp)mgipmrnd—2563ls(s3)—30082012