Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajeev Ranjan Singh today said Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana has led to the growth of the fisheries sector. Replying to the discussion in Lok Sabha on Demands for Grants under the control of Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying for 2024-25, the Minister said India is among the top nations in terms of fish production due to initiatives of the Narendra Modi government. He criticised Opposition parties for not taking any steps to develop the fisheries sector when they were in power.
Lok Sabha has approved the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying for 2024-25.
Earlier, initiating the discussion in the House, Sayani Ghosh of AITC said that India stands third in terms of fish production contributing to 8 per cent of global fish production and ranks second in aquaculture production. She said that the government has allocated only 0.045 per cent towards Blue Revolution out of the total budget of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
BJP’s Dushyant Singh hailed the government’s decision of having a dedicated ministry for animal husbandry, dairying and fishing in 2019. He said that today nine crore people are associated with milk production in the country. He said this industry makes a 5.5 per cent contribution to the country’s GDP.
In the Lower House, Congress’ Benny Behanan stressed on the need for government to support the fishing and farming community and assure them of income security.
N C Uttam Patel of SP accused the government of not giving priority to this sector in the Union Budget. He said this sector required more funds so that the rural economy could be strengthened.