Jammu Kashmir Absent from National Fisheries Insurance Roll-out as Centre Disburses Over 54 Crore to Cover More Than one Crore Fishers
Information placed in the Rajya Sabha by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying shows that while multiple coastal States and island territories have received allocations under national insurance and infrastructure initiatives for fishing communities, Jammu and Kashmir is not included among the beneficiaries of the current phase of projects.
The Ministry said it is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana(PMMSY), a flagship scheme with a total outlay of 20,750 crore rupees aimed at sustainable fisheries development and fisher welfare. As part of its social security component, the scheme provides group accidental insurance coverage for both marine and inland fishers and allied workers.
Under this coverage, fishers are insured for 5 lakh rupees in case of death or permanent total disability, 2.5 lakh rupees for permanent partial disability and up to 25,000 rupees for hospitalisation following accidents. The premium is shared between the Centre and States in a 60:40 ratio for general States and 90:10 for Himalayan and North Eastern States, while Union Territories receive full central support.
Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, the Centre released 54.03 crore rupees for insurance coverage of 103.73 lakh fishers, averaging about 34.57 lakh beneficiaries annually.
In addition, a new sub-scheme titled the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY) has been launched with an outlay of 6,000 crore rupees, split between public funding and private investment. The programme offers one-time incentives to aquaculture farmers to purchase insurance against yield losses caused by floods, cyclones, pollution, heat stress, disease outbreaks and other natural or non-preventable risks.
Farmers receive 40 percent of the insurance premium as support, subject to ceilings of 25,000 rupees per hectare or 1 lakh rupees per farmer, with additional benefits for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and women beneficiaries.
For climate resilience and infrastructure, the Ministry has also taken up the development of Integrated Modern Coastal Fishing Villages, which includes creation of fisheries infrastructure, disaster-resilient housing, cyclone and tsunami shelters, and post-harvest facilities. The unit cost is fixed at 200 lakh rupees per village, fully funded by the Centre under the central sector component.
So far, 100 villages have been allocated across 13 coastal States and Union Territories. Administrative approvals have been granted for 97 villages and 4,750 lakh rupees released as the first instalment. Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have each received approvals for 15 villages, Tamil Nadu for 16, Odisha for 18, while Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal and island territories such as Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep are also covered.
Jammu and Kashmir, which has a sizeable inland fisheries and trout farming sector dependent on rivers, lakes and reservoirs, is not mentioned among the States receiving village-level infrastructure or coastal resilience support in this phase.
Kashmir handicraft store
Officials said the PMMSY covers inland fisheries as well, suggesting that the Union Territory may still access insurance benefits through state-level implementation. However, the absence from the current list of sanctioned village infrastructure projects indicates that no dedicated allocations have yet been approved for local fishing clusters.
The Ministry said the combined objective of these schemes is to cushion fishers against accidents and climate disasters, promote insurance adoption, and build resilient infrastructure to secure livelihoods in vulnerable fishing communities.
