Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu yesterday transferred Rs 52.50 lakh through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to 1,500 fishermen of Bilaspur district under the Mukhya Mantri Machhuara Samman Nidhi Yojana.
Each beneficiary received Rs 3,500. The transfer was made during his visit to the Jhandutta Assembly constituency.
Addressing a public meeting at Dhrarsanni, Sukhu announced several measures aimed at strengthening the fishing community. He waived the five-fold penalty imposed on fishermen societies and raised the subsidy for setting up cold storage units from 70 to 80 per cent.
He also announced Rs 50 lakh for providing life jackets to fishermen across the state and Rs 10 lakh for creating landing facilities. Besides, Rs 10 lakh each was sanctioned for completing 10 link roads in the Jhandutta constituency. He announced that BCA and BBA classes would be started at Government Degree College, Jhandutta.
Sukhu said the royalty on fish caught from reservoirs, which had been reduced from 15 per cent to 7.50 per cent during 2025-26, had now been brought down further to just one per cent.
The government, he said, was also providing a 70 per cent subsidy on refrigerated vehicles to facilitate transportation of fish to major markets, including Delhi and Chandigarh.
Claiming that his government had plugged avenues of corruption, Sukhu said the savings were being utilised for the welfare of fishermen and schemes supporting higher education for orphaned and other deserving children.
He said the Congress government had taken several decisions in the interest of employees and other sections of society. Referring to the Old Pension Scheme, he said it was restored by the Congress government in its first Cabinet meeting.
Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani said government policies had led to several important decisions for the welfare of the fishing community.
