Saturday, January 15 2005 13:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Cuddalore: Taking a lesson from the high number of uninsured boats damaged in the tsunami, the fisheries department is now demanding a comprehensive insurance policy to cover both group and individual fishermen in cases of natural disasters.

It took one tsunami to reduce to splinters over 6000 boats. Out of this has emerged the fact that in a district with almost 45,000 active fishermen, a handful of 30 to 40 were under insurance coverage.

"The premium rate for most of the leading insurance companies are very high. At 24 per cent of the asset, it works out to almost Rs 5000-6000 per annum, which an average boat owner cannot afford," Assistant Director for Fisheries, P Srinivasan said.

"In the months of November and December last year we had insured around eight persons in the district under group insurance with a diesel sales tax exemption of around Rs 5.33 per litre, but that is a meagre amount considering the number of fishing vessels in the district," he said. The persons with larger in board engines (IBE) fall under this scheme.

Around 30 - 40 persons were insured for smaller fibreglass and another four or five for the out board motors (OBM), he said.

The boat owners complained that the premium rate for the insurance rate is so high, added to the increasing diesel prices, it is practically impossible to go for insurance coverage.

"The insurance companies do not come forth often enough to provide affordable coverage for 'total loss' scheme that occurs in the case of full destruction of the boats," he said.

"Our primary demand is that the premium rate be reduced to accommodate the owners of both the bigger as well as the smaller owners," he said.

However, Government officials when contacted alleged that despite putting in place several schemes to persuade the fishermen to go for insurance in cases of natural disasters of this scale, the owners are not coming forward to insure their boats.

"A State and Central Government sponsored scheme is already in place, under which the State will bear the burden of 50 per cent of the insurance premium," Secretary of the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, V A Shegaonkar said.

"Only recently the Government has decided a tax exemption on diesel for the fishermen who decide to insure. We have covered 3.88 lakh marine fishermen under the scheme already," he said.

"We need the cooperation also of the insurance companies along with the fishermen to make this scheme work. We have asked for tenders from three or four such companies to receive the lowest rate. Under the arrangement, the fisherman will have to shell out only Rs 14 premium annually," he said adding that the lowest rate received has been 35 per cent.

"Now after the tsunami we have to urge the fishing community to take out compulsory insurance cover for their vessels," he said.