The Cabinet has decided to write off loans amounting to around Rs.254 crore taken by fishermen from various cooperative institutions in the State, Fisheries Minister S. Sarma told a press conference here on Tuesday.
Of this amount, a sum of Rs.221.15 crore is towards the principal of the loan and Rs.20 crore towards interest on the loan disbursed through cooperative societies. A sum of Rs.12.44 crore disbursed as loans through the Matsyafed too will be written off. Nearly 60,000 fishermen will benefit by this decision of the government, Mr. Sarma said.
He said the Kerala Fishermen’s Debt Relief Commission had submitted to the government its second report recommending the writing-off of these loans. The Cabinet, at its meeting on Tuesday, accepted the recommendations.
The government would sanction Rs.100 crore in the first stage to the societies to enable them to write off fishermen’s debt, he said.