Maharashtra State Fisheries Minister, Aslam Sheikh, on Thursday, December 1, 2020, stated that the fishermen who have been given diesel quota in the state will soon get a refund on the fuel from the government. The decision regarding the same was to take after discussions with discussing the matters with Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Ajit Pawar.
Reports state that Shaikh has asked Pawar to pay the remaining INR 40.65 crore to the Fisheries Department at the earliest possibility and make this provision as the refund amount directed towards diesel fund for the fishermen for the year 2020-21. Approving the same, FM Pawar has assigned the responsibility to the concerned secretaries who will soon allocate the funds to the department.
Currently, the diesel quota has been sanctioned for 9,646 mechanical boats of 160 fishing co-operative societies in Maharashtra.
The government in 2020 had approved INR 60 crore as the fund, however, only INR 19.35 crore was disbursed to the Fisheries Department due to coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the issues, Minister Sheikh had written a letter to FM Pawar demanding the release of the remaining INR 40.65 crore which was approved immediately and will be distributed soon as a special case.
Sheikh also mentioned that the backlog of diesel fund has been pending and hence increasing for some time now. Till date, the government has given diesel refunds of up to INR 110 crore to the fishermen and a supplementary demand of INR 189 crore for diesel refund has been made to FM Pawar. Positive discussions are being held and a decision will soon be taken to consider the demand.
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