Karwar: Identity cards will be soon issued to fishermen who come from other states to work here by the Fisheries Department. More than 1,000 fishermen from Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and other states work in Uttara Kannada district.
The fishermen in the state have been given biometric ID cards. Fishermen from other states do not have biometric or other types of ID cards. It became a challenge for the coastal police and Indian Coast Guard to identify the genuine fishermen. The fishermen without ID cards would find it difficult to prove themselves as fishermen when Coast Guard officials confront them.
The Deputy Director of Fisheries is the authority to give temporary ID cards to fishermen from other states. For the process, the boat owner should give complete details to coastal police about the labourers. With the help of coastal police documents, the Fisheries Department will give ID cards to them.
Earlier, the Centre had made it mandatory for all fishermen to carry ID cards to prevent illegal entry of people through the sea route.
