The Hindu

Mangalore, May 2: The State Government has allocated 7,400 kilolitres of diesel to fishermen in May. It will be exempt from sales tax and supplied to fishing vessels.

The monthly diesel allocation has gone up substantially after the Government decided some time ago to increase the annual diesel allocation to 75,000 kl. A recent government notification in this regard said that allocation for June is 2,400 kl. The reduction in the allocation for June is because of the ‘fishing holiday’ between June 10 and mid-August, according to sources.

The sources said the allocation for August was on a par with that of May as the Government would allow fishing boats to venture into the sea from the beginning of August. The boats can return only by the end of the fishing holiday. For the subsequent months, the Government has allocated 7,200 kl each till March 2010. For April this year, the Government had allocated 7,400 kl of diesel for fisheries.

It has been the Government’s policy to subsidise fuel for the fishermen because fishing is not perceived as a lucrative occupation. Sales tax on diesel works to about Rs. 5 a litre, according to Vasudev Boloor, general secretary of Coastal Karnataka Fishermen’s Action Committee. He said this scheme had helped fishermen enormously. But for this, many fishermen might have discontinued their occupation, he added. The owners of boats invest about Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 90,000 on diesel, ice, and food every time the fishermen go for deep sea fishing for 10 to 15 days. Instead of wages, fishermen are given 30 per cent of the revenue earned from the fish they catch. They have to bring to shore fish worth more than Rs. 1 lakh, which does not happen always.