With the center stonewalling on the issue of service charge on insurance, Fishcopfed is trying to get business from the states. It held the Board meeting last month in Bhuvneswar which was attended by Odisha state cooperative minister. And a process of expanding business in the state has begun.
As reported in these columns earlier, the Central govt not clarifying its stand on the issue of service charges of insurance done by the Fishcopfed to about 46 lakh fishermen has thrown the apex cooperative body into uncertainty.
Hemmed in by the dwindling govt grant and lack of governmental encouragement for its proactive measures, Fishcopfed is now forced to venture out in the states. Its MD Mr B K Mishra however says“it’s not so we are focusing both on the central govt as well as state governments.”
“We have secured the business of training 280 fishermen under Employment Mission Fund in Odisha. We will offer them training in skill development. Its 14 month job”, Mishra said.
”We also intend to set up state of the art training institute in the state of Odisha and presumably the state govt looks interested. Soon after the Board meeting the entire Board led by our Chairman went to meet the Chief Minister”, Mishra averred.
”There are training centres for fishermen but none for the fisheries cooperative management. We intend to have a National Institute of Fisheries Cooperative Management spread over 5 acre. We have asked the state govt to provide us the land and they seem open to the idea”, Mishra sounded hopeful.
Elaborating on the idea of the Institute, Mishra said it will be a unique place where under one roof you could find everything from brood bank to fisheries hub to ornamental food production centre. The fishermen undergoing training could also have hands on experience at the campus.
FISHCOPFED is focusing on the eastern and northeastern states as it has 14 training programmes going on in Odisha as of now. It has also ambitious plans for Assam and north-east, informed its MD.