The government said on Thursday that it has distributed Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to only 8,400 fishermen in the country so far and efforts are being made to reach out to more people.

To give boost to the fishery sector, the government has drafted two key Bills, which are expected to be placed in Parliament either in the ongoing or next session, it said.

The National Marine Fisheries (Regulation and Management) Bill 2019 and the other bill on controlling diseases in fish are yet to be approved by the Cabinet.

Addressing an event on the occasion of the World’s Fisheries Day here, Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh said among several measures announced, the government had extended a short term credit facility, which was available to farmers pursuing animal husbandry and fisheries in 2018-19.

“So far, 8,400-odd fish farmers have got KCC. This number is too small when compared to around 2 crore fish farmers in the country. We are going to review and take measures to step up our efforts to reach more people,” he said.

In the Budget 2018-19, the government had announced extension of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) facility to animal husbandry farmers and fishermen to help them meet their working capital requirements.

However, not many cards could be distributed to fish farmers due to lack of awareness and delay in issuing RBI guidelines for implementation of this facility, sources said.

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