A welfare fund for fishermen, and the allied workers Kerala's Act brings inside it

Background

The Kerala Fishermen's Welfare Fund Act, 1985 is Kerala Act 30 of 1985, and it provides for the constitution of a welfare fund to promote the welfare of fishermen in the State. The Kerala Fishermen's Welfare Fund Board is constituted under Section 7 of that Act and runs the fund, while Section 4 provides for the contribution payable into it. The Act reaches beyond fishermen to the allied worker — a person who earns a living mainly from fishery related activities but does not fall within the definition of fisherman in the Kerala Fisherman's Welfare Societies Act, 1980. Beach workers and small-scale fish distributors are counted as allied workers, and so are fish curers, peeling workers and those in small processing plants, where no other statutory welfare scheme covers them. A beach worker is defined by the work done at a fishing harbour or landing centre, from unloading fish from fishing crafts to mending and repairing nets. The Act defines fish widely, taking in prawn, lobster, shellfish, clam and squid, and it defines a dealer to include a commission agent or broker. The Director of Fisheries for the State is one of the officers the Act names. The Fisheries department has asked pension holders under the Board to finish Aadhaar authentication, reporting that of 73,657 beneficiaries, 59,061 have completed it so far.