The Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare have together prepared a plan to empower the fishermen.
A preliminary discussion in this regard was held between the Minister of Fisheries, Douglas Devananda, and the State Minister of Social Empowerment, Mr. Anupa Pasqual, at the Ministry of Fisheries.
At this occasion, State Minister of Social Empowerment, Anupa Pasqual stated that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had permitted to empower 12 hundred thousand insurance beneficiaries under the “Aswesuma“benefit scheme. He further stated that necessary provisions had been allocated under the World Bank assistance, and accordingly, a necessary program had been prepared by his ministry to empower the fishing community and he expressed his wish to implement it according to the instructions and reports given by the institutions under the purview of Ministry of Fisheries.
He further added that arrangements could be made to provide loans through rural fishing organizations based on freshwater reservoirs to boost the inland fishing industry, He pointed out that the funds needed to deposit fish fry in freshwater reservoirs could be issued to the societies as loans, and asked the NAQDA Institute to prepare a suitable program in connection with these matters and submit it to the ministry.
Mr. Douglas Devananda, the Minister of Fisheries who spoke at this event explained, that there were more than 280,000 families engaged in the fishing sector in Sri Lanka, and 15 districts had been designated as marine fisheries districts, and the inland fishing industry was carried out in all the 24 districts of Sri Lanka. The fishing community had been gathered in the National Fishery Federation, its affiliated district fishing organizations, and rural fishing organizations under the Ministry of Fisheries. Pointing out that the fishermen are organized at the village level in more than 1500 rural fishing organizations, the minister emphasized that the fisheries community could be empowered through these organizations.
In addition, the minister described that the fishermen had been organized through cooperative fishing organizations as well and said that the members of those societies could be empowered through the cooperative department and the provincial cooperative commissioners. The secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries, Ms. Nayana Kumari Somaratne, expressed her views, and stated that a committee consisting of officials from the Ministry of Fisheries and affiliated institutions would be organized to prepare a plan for this program. Mr. Nelson Edirisinghe, Secretary of the National Fishermen's Federation, presented facts about the structural pattern of the Fishermen's Federation.
Officials of the Fisheries Department including the Director General of NAQDA Institute, Dr. Asoka, officials of the Ministry of Fisheries, and the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Social Welfare participated in this discussion.
