Kochi: National award for fishermen society

KOCHI: Fishermen development welfare cooperative society (FDWCS) based in Njarakkal, which has been working for the welfare of fishermen for the past three decades, has bagged national award for best fisheries cooperative society.
The award, instituted by National Fisheries Development Board and given on World Fisheries Day (November 21), carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh.
“They considered our performance for the past three years. Every year we make a profit of more than Rs 30 lakh from our activities,” says Jithendrakumari, secretary, FDWCS.
The 32-year-old society, under the Matsyafed, short for the Kerala state co-operative federation for fisheries development, was formed in 1988.
“We have been doing a lot of activities for the welfare of fishermen, including a medical store which provides an annual discount of around Rs 6.5 lakh for medicines. We also provide pension for fishermen who are above 70 years,” says P G Jayakumar, president, FDWCS. The society has now around 3,790 members.
“If not for our loans, most of them would have had to depend on private money lenders. For fisher groups we pay upto Rs15 lakh for buying equipment like nets and boats,” said Jithendrakumari.