 bill no iii of 2006 the traditional fishermen (socio-economic protection  and welfare) bill, 2006 a billto provide for the socio-economic protection and welfare measures to be undertaken by the state for the traditional fishermen in the country by way of establishing a welfare fund for them and by providing comprehensive life insurance against accidents caused by bad weather, cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami or for any other reason, financial assistance for country boats and nets, unemployment allowance during lean season, free education medicare and other facilities to fishermen and their families and children and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the traditional fishermen (socio-economic protection and welfare) act, 2006short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "accident" means an accident caused during the course of fishing including drowning by natural calamity like storm, cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami or otherwise in which the fishermen loses his life;(b) "administrator" means administrator appointed under section 5; (c) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state the government of that state and in other cases the central  government;(d) "fund" means the traditional fishermen welfare fund established under section 4;(e) "partial disablement" means disablement caused by an accident which reduces the working capacity of any fishermen temporarily which he was capable of having before the accident;(f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; (g) "total disablement" includes any disablement which incapacitates a fisherman for all work which he was capable of performing prior to the accidentnational policy for the traditional fishermen3 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, but within one year of the commencement of this act, formulate, in consultation with the governments of the states having substantial population of traditional fishermen, a long-term national policy for the socio-economic protection and welfare of traditional fishermen and their families who are pursuing their centuries old, traditional, labour intensive rural based occupation(2) without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in sub-section (1)the national policy shall provide for,—(a) comprehensive insurance cover for the traditional fishermen and their family members in such manner as may be prescribed;(b) insurance cover for the country fishing boats and nets and dwelling units; (c) rehabilitation measures in case of  traditional fishermen affected by sea storm, cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami;(d) prevention of intrusion of mechanized boats of any size into traditional fishing grounds in the inshore coastal and inland waters;(e) prevention of reckless mechanized fishing to protect the delicate fish ecology and fish breeding grounds generally located in the warm nutrient rich shallow coastal waters;(f) such other measures as the central government may deem necessary for the protection and welfare of traditional fishermen and their families4  (1)  the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, establish a fund to be called the traditional fishermen welfare fund for the purposes of this actestablishment of the traditional fishermen welfare fund(2) the initial corpus money of the fund shall be one thousand crore rupees which shall be provided by the central government after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf(3) after the establishment of the fund, money to the fund shall be provided by the central and the state governments in such proportion as may be agreed to from year to year and the money received by way of donations from individuals, body corporates, financial and other institutions shall also form the corpus money of the fund(4) the fund shall be administered by the central government in such manner as may be prescribedappointment of administrators5 the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, appoint such number of administrators from amongst its cadres of officers as it may deem necessary who shall entertain and dispose of the claims for payment of compensation and other facilities under this act and follow such procedures as may be prescribed6 the fund established under this act shall be utilised for providing,—utilisation of the fund(a) comprehensive life insurance cover to the traditional fishermen and their family members;(b) insurance for dwelling units and household items of the traditional fishermen; (c) free medical care to the traditional fishermen and their family members;(d) financial assistance to the traditional fishermen for purchasing country fishing boats or repairing such boats, fishing nets and other equipment required for fishing;(e) unemployment allowance during illness or financial crisis during lean periods;(f) free education including technical and vocational education to the children of traditional fishermen;(g) financial assistance for marriage in the family of traditional fishermen; (h) such other purposes as may be prescribedfixation of compensation and payment thereof7 (1) subject to the provisions of this act, the amount of compensation payable to a traditional fisherman sustaining injury resulting in his death or partial or total disablement or in case of his drowning or sweeping away by the water currents or in his disappearance or his dwelling unit and movable properties being washed away in a storm or cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami, shall be such as may be specified by the central government from time to time by notification in the official gazette(2) in case of death of a traditional fisherman, the compensation fixed under subsection (1) shall be paid to the spouse of the deceased or to his legal heir or to the children, as the case may be, and in case the deceased being unmarried the compensation shall be paid to his parents(3) every claimant for payment of compensation under this act shall apply to the administrator in prescribed format giving such details as may be prescribed(4) every claim for compensation under this act shall be finalized by the administrator and payment shall be made within thirty days of the claim8 the appropriate government shall,—miscellaneous provisions(a) establish adequate number of schools and vocational training institutes and healthcare centres in and around the areas inhabitated by traditional fishermen for their benefit including their families and children;(b) provide adequate and hygienic marketing facilities to the fishermen for their catch;(c) provide subsidy for small scale hatcheries and medium scale hatcheries for those traditional fishermen who intend to set up shrimp/prawn farms;(d) establish adequate number of chill room facilities in the areas of traditional fishermen;(e) prevent the intrusion of mechanized boats into the old traditional fishing grounds in the inshore coastal and inland waters by national and multinational companies;(f) through the coast guard and navy, prevent the trespassing by fishermen of other countries into the fisheries of indian waters;(g) take up the issue with neighbouring countries through diplomatic channels whenever the indian fishermen are detained with their boats and nets by such countries so as to ensure their timely release;(h) take such other measures as it may deem necessary for the protection and welfare of traditional fishermenpenalty9  notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, ifany person resorts to mechanised fishing in any water to catch or destroy any fish therein, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine which may extend to five lakh rupees or with both and his mechanised boat and nets shall also be confiscated10 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law applicable to fishermen for the time being in forceapplication of other lawsnot barred 11 the central government shall provide adequate funds, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, to the states for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide funds to the states power to make rules12 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthere are millions of traditional fishermen and their families living in over 1800 villages along the entire 5650 kms coast line of our country who earn their livelihood by catching fish with their country boats and nets and selling it in the market catching fish is their family vocation and they are doing it for generations traditionally , male fishermen venture into the sea and  catch fish whereas the women do the processing work of the fish however, the fishermen and their families live in abject poverty are debt ridden and have hand to mouth existence whereas the middlemen wholesalers and retailers, etc flourish at the cost of fishermen because seafood is becoming popular worldwide many a time when there is storm, cyclone or super cyclone, large numbers of fishermen are carried away by water currents thousands of fishermen lost their lives when orissa was swept away by super cyclone few years back and during the recent tsunami disaster in various parts of the country including pondicherry, tamil nadu, andaman nicobar, etc they also lose their dwelling units mainly huts and their household belongings and food items when hit by cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami similarly, many a time they get drowned during fishing or receive injuries leading to their partial or total disablement but nobody except their family members are there to look after them who being poverty stricken themselves can not afford to look after the affected fishermen the whole family is ruined due to death or disablement of a fishermen further, the survival of traditional fishermen is threatened by the intrusion of mechanized boats into their centuries old traditional fishing grounds in the inshore coastal and inland waters these mechanized boats not only deprive the traditional fishermen of their catch but also destroy the delicate fish ecology and fish breeding grounds by reckless mechanized fishing which causes killing of fish eggs resulting in alarming depletion of fish resources, disastrous decline in daily fish catch rendering poor traditional fishermen impoverishedhence in a welfare state like ours, the state should come forward to provide a helping hand to the poor traditional fishermen they should be provided with adqauate insurance against accidents caused by storm, cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami and insurances for their dwelling units and household items they should also get (i) healthcare, financial assistance for marriages and other needs, educational and vocational facilities for their children, (ii) marketing facilities, chill room facilities and other necessary facilities, and socio-economic protection firm steps should be taken to prevent mechanized fishing as wellhence this billv  narayanasamy president's recommendation under article 117(3) of the constitution of india(copy of letter no 47-11(1)/2006-fy(s) dated the 28th february, 2006 from shri sharad pawar, minister of agriculture and consumer affairs, food and public distribution to the secretary-general, rajya sabha)'the president having been informed of the subject matter of above mentioned bill, has accorded his recommendation under article 117(3) of the constitution for consideration of the bill, in the rajya sabha' financial  memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for the establishment of the traditional fishermen welfare fund clause 5 provides for the appointment of administrators clause 11 provides that the central government shall provide adequate funds to the states for carrying out the purposes of this bill the bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india apart from the initial corpus fund of one thousand crore rupees it is estimated that a sum of two thousand crore rupees may involve as recurring expenditure per annuma sum of rupees one thousand crore may also involve as non-recurring expenditure memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 12 gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character rajya  sabha———— abillto provide for the socio-economic protection and welfare measures to be undertaken by the state for the traditional fishermen in the country by way of establishing a welfare fund for them and by providing comprehensive life insurance against accidents, caused by bad weather, cyclone, super cyclone or tsunami or for  any other reason, financial assistance for country boats and nets, unemployment allowance during lean season, free education, medicare and other facilities to fishermen and their families and children and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri v narayanasamy, mp)mgipmrnd—5992rs—(s-5)—03-03-2006