Malpractice in issuing tokens for boats unravelled during vigilance raid at Fisheries department office in Rameswaram

In a major expose, the illegal ways allegedly adopted by some officials in the office of the Assistant Director, Fisheries Department at Rameswaram, in issuing tokens and sea worthiness certificates for boats of fishermen was unravelled on Wednesday.

In a major expose, the illegal ways allegedly adopted by some officials in the office of the Assistant Director, Fisheries Department at Rameswaram, in issuing tokens and sea worthiness certificates for boats of fishermen was unravelled on Wednesday.

The search operations, which commenced at around Tuesday evening, went on till late night. The officials of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, led by DSP Ramachandran and Inspector Rajeswari, reportedly seized unaccounted cash to the tune of ₹55,560 and incriminating documents.

Following complaints to the CM Special Cell about the alleged malpractices, the DVAC (Ramanathapuram detachment) police were on surveillance and had posted officers on duty for sometime, sources said.

During the annual 61-day fishing ban period, mechanised boat and country boat fishermen repair and overhaul the boats at the jetty.

With just a fortnight left for the ban period to end, the Fisheries department staff conducted physical checks on the boats prior to issuance of sea worthiness certificates. As they required additional manpower, staffs from other districts were drawn here by the Fisheries department to clear the extra rush.

According to fishermen, though there were about 600 boats in Rameswaram, the Fisheries department officials reportedly issued tokens to over 600 boats. Those who get tokens were eligible for getting subsidised diesel from the government, which amounted to several lakhs.

Each eligible fisher would get 1800 litres of diesel at a subsidised price for 10 months in a year and the subsidy works out to 21.4 % on the diesel price per litre, a fishermen leader said.