First fully digitised National Marine Fisheries Census 2025 launched
Kochi (PTI): Union Minister George Kurian on Friday launched the household enumeration phase of the fully digitised National Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025 at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here.
Kurian urged all officers and enumerators participating in the census to ensure the registration of all fishers and fish workers on the National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP), noting that it is mandatory for availing benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY).
"Only fishermen and fish farmers registered on the portal will be eligible to receive financial assistance from the central government," the union minister of state for fisheries said, adding that registration could be carried out through Common Service Centres (CSCs).
Describing the census as a milestone in India’s digital and data-driven fisheries governance, Kurian said, "This edition marks a major technological shift as the first fully digitised data collection in the history of Indian fisheries."
Kurian called upon all state fisheries departments, local bodies, and community organisations to extend full cooperation to make the ‘Smart Census, Smarter Fisheries’ initiative a success.
Following the launch, live field data collection from Maharashtra and Kerala was displayed at the venue, showcasing real-time digital data capture and central monitoring of the process using two mobile applications, VyAS Bharat and VyAS Sutra — developed by CMFRI, a press release said.
The apps enable geo-referenced data collection, instant verification, and seamless transmission to central servers, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and efficiency, CMFRI said
According to CMFRI, the 45-day nationwide enumeration will be conducted from November 3 to December 18, covering over 1.2 million fisher households across 4,000 marine fishing villages in 9 coastal states and 4 union territories, with thousands of trained field staff participating.
The exercise is coordinated by the Department of Fisheries (DoF) under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), with CMFRI as the nodal agency and the Fishery Survey of India (FSI) as the operational partner, a press release said.
Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Fisheries, Dr Ajay Srivastava, presided over the function.
Union Fisheries Secretary Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Joint Secretary Neetu Kumari Prasad, ICAR Assistant Director General Dr Shubdeep Ghosh, CMFRI Director Dr Grinson George, CIFT Director Dr George Ninan, FSI Director General Dr Sreenath K R, Marine Census Principal Investigator Dr J Jaysankar, Dr Somy Kuriakose, and Dr C Ramachandran also spoke.
The event was followed by a national workshop featuring presentations from coastal states and interactions with representatives of fishing communities.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
