Enterprising Fisherwomen

• Staff Reporter

Vincy Sandhya, a 55-year old housewife had to fend for a family of three children with the meagre earnings that her husband got from fishing. Her destiny changed when she enrolled in the Society for Assistance to Fisherwomen (SAF) and set up a fish processing unit, along with four other women. Today, the unit has a monthly turnover of around Rs three lakhs. Each member earns up to Rs 20,000 per month. The team has also won awards for the best Theeramaithri unit. Recognising the need to empower women like Vincy, dedicated initiatives have been taken up to uplift their socio-economic status. SAF was one such initiative, committed to improving the lives of women in fishing communities. From 2005, SAF has been able to ensure stable employment and income for more than 10,000 fisher women.

Schemes by SAF

• Development of Micro Enterprises

• Grant of up to Rs. 5 lakh per group (Rs. 1 lakh per member) for starting an enterprise for 2 to 5 middle-class fisher women.

• 75 percent grant, 20 percent bank loan, 5 percent profit share

• Around 80 different enterprises set up in various sectors including fish processing, food processing, tailoring and garments, supermarket and retail stores.

The turnover of SAF units in the financial year 2024- 25 is Rs. 150.95 crore. 8.79 lakh work days have been created through the scheme. 1648 small business enterprises involving 4687 women have been started in the last 10 years. In the financial year 2025-26, 200 small businesses involving 200 fisherwomen are being started under the One Family One Job scheme. In addition, Rs. 1 crore has been allocated for starting small-scale enterprises involving 2 to 5 women.

Joint Liability Groups

The scheme is being implemented to provide working capital.

• An interest-free revolving fund of up to Rs. 50,000 per group (Rs. 10,000 per member) as working capital.

• Units that complete the repayment of the revolving fund will be granted Rs. 1 lakh (Rs. 20,000 per member) in subsequent tranches.

• Since 2019, 1070 JLG groups comprising 5350 fisherwomen have been granted a revolving fund of Rs. 5.35 crore in the first phase.

• From the repayment amount of the revolving fund, Rs. 27.88 crore has been granted to the units in subsequent phases as a revolving fund.

• In the financial year 2025-26, 4000 fisherwomen will be granted revolving fund through the JLG scheme.

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Policy

Educated women from fishing families are provided training in Digital Media Marketing & Advertising Design. A 3-month online course was provided to 55 young women graduates selected from fishing families in 9 coastal districts and Kottayam district. 6 months of field-level practical training was also provided in SAF units.

Interest-free Fund

• In addition to the assistance to start small businesses, SAF also provides assistance for the survival of the enterprises.

• Assistance ranging from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 1 lakh for small scale enterprises

• Assistance up to Rs. 1.5 lakh for supermarkets, seafood restaurants and community provision stores

• Repayment in 20 installments • A revolving fund of Rs. 4.5 crore has been sanctioned till date.