Kerala plans a single housing scheme for fishermen, merging Punargeham into it

15 October 2026

Fisheries Minister V.E. Abdul Gafoor told the Kerala Legislative Assembly that the Government plans a comprehensive housing scheme for fishermen that would merge existing programmes, including Punargeham, into a single scheme. He said the Government is actively considering raising the house-construction grant, because complaints say the present amount is not enough, and that the Punargeham budget has not been cut and funds will be given to complete the houses. He was replying to Parakkal Abdulla, who raised complaints that LIFE Mission houses were not reaching fishermen on time. The Minister said the State aims to double fish production within five years with new inland fisheries projects, and that Rs 50 crore has been allocated under the sub-plan for Blue Economy activities. Tourism projects at existing harbours will be examined, and Vettam panchayat will be considered for the Integrated Model Village project in a later phase. Questions were also raised by T.M. Sasi, Faisal Babu, V. Muraleedharan, Kurukkoli Moideen, C.V. Shanthakumar and P.K. Navas.