In a bid to modernize the fisheries cooperatives Fishcopfed is aiming to tie up with a Gujarat based company to procure Distress Alert System (DAT) for fishermen who own motorized boats.
DAT is a useful technology which is fitted in the motorized boat and alerts Coast Guard automatically should an emergency occur such as drowning of boat, fire or attack from the sea pirates.
Talking to the Indian Cooperative Fishcopfed Managing Director B K Mishra said talks are in advanced stage to ink the agreement. A Gujarat based company produces DAT which has been approved by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
Government of India has already initiated “Safety at sea schemes”. We want to exploit this scheme for the benefit of the fishermen. Fishcopfed aims to start first in the coastal Odisha, said Mr Mishra.
The central government gives 75 percent subsidy. We intend to rope in the state govt to give rest of 25 percent. The cost of DAT is Rs 15,000 per machine and with state govt support it would be easy for fishermen to afford DAT, added Mishra.
The life of DAT is roughly five years and could be used in mechanized boats which go for high sea. Fishcopfed is doing survey to identify such boats and according to a rough estimate there are about 3000 such boats in Odisha, said the MD of apex cooperative organization. We are not sure but there must be about 50 thousand such boats in the country, he added.
We would levy a service charge of about five percent for our efforts. In money terms it is negligible but in terms of satisfaction it is huge, feels Mishra. We are after all the prime mover of the project from identifying the fishermen to tying up with ISRO approved company to exploiting the existing government schemes for the benefit of fishermen, added Mishra.