Fisheries in landlocked Uttar Pradesh has always been very low profile business. The department has been with lowest budget in the state – a meager Rs 450 crore. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way. The 2012-batch IAS officer Prashant Sharma and his team have made the state’s fisheries department, number one in the country in the inland fisheries category and that too in just over a year under the stewardship of 1988-batch IAS officer Rajneesh Dubey who is Additional Chief Secretary of this department.
Indian Masterminds spoke exclusively to Mr Sharma, the present Director of Fisheries & MD U.P. Fisheries Development Corporation Limited, to find out how he created the miracle. They have raised the production has increased from last year’s 8.09 lakh metric tonnes to 9.15 lakh metric tonnes this year. The fish seeds’s production too grew from last year’s 27,128 lakh metric tonnes to 36,187 lakh metric tonnes this year.
Ponds in U.P. are spread across 3 lakh hectares area. Most of them are fed by river or canals. Rain-fed ponds are few in numbers that’s why fisheries here is least affected by rains or lack of it.
THE PROBLEMS
“The departments not considered important, get less attention. That is why you would see problems everywhere. But if you are willing to slug it out, you can bring about a change. That’s what I did,” he said.
Mr Sharma after taking charge last year boosted the employees’ morale. They were always in holiday mood. They did not even get LTC (Leave Travel Concession). “I worked on all these aspects. I motivated them to strike a work-life balance and it paid off”, he told Indian Masterminds.
TECHNOLOGY
The use of technology was minimal in the department. Most of the work was being done manually. Being a software engineer, he digitized the processes eliminating human interface. He made all the schemes online increasing making process and procedure transparent.
Earlier, the allotment of ponds used to be on ‘first come first get’ basis. Now its done though computer-based lottery system. For better results the allotment has been decentralized to the district level. At mere press of a button by the District Magistrate (DM), the lottery takes place. The allottees get a system-generated message and while some others are put on the waiting list.
Prashant being a software engineer, has himself created an app ‘Matsya Mitra’ for the department. The app having complete information regarding ‘fish farming’ was launched only 3 days ago. The app, provides a personalized calendar to a farmer providing him information about fish farming according to different season. It also sends timely reminder for all activities through SMS and app notifications.
He has already received the National e-governance award for creating another app ‘Chikitsa Setu’.
BUDGET
Government of India has an annual budget for every state for different schemes. The state government also provide the department with their own budgetary provisions.UP fisheries department was running Central schemes for past several many years. But Mr Prashant started 6 new schemes in the last 14 months and got the budget increased for them. “Formulating schemes and getting budgetary support for them is the most difficult task, because the process passes through many levels from the central to the state government. But we made it possible,” he says.
UP Fisheries Department’s budget of Rs 450 crore has almost been doubled with Central government alone contributing Rs 350 crore this year.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The department’s infrastructure was in bad condition. Many ponds of departments were closed for years. Many had even been captured by the mafia. But Mr Prashant launched a special campaign to rejuvenate the ponds before being given on rent or lease to poor fishermen. They get a job and sustain their families. The department also generated income worth crores from it. Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Development Corporation’s profit increased by 185 percent.
The department has a Fish Hatchery in Lucknow for supplies to the entire state. But this hatchery was also in tatters, after falling to the land mafia. Prashant got its 42 year-old records extracted from DM office, freed this Hatchery and got its boundary constructed. Then it was converted into a modern hatchery at a cost of Rs 2 crore. He has received an award from the government for this achievement.
QUALITY MONITORING
The responsibility of setting the standards of goods in the country lies with the Quality Council of India (QCI), which works under the Ministry of Commerce. Fisheries Department has signed an MoU with QCI so that the latter will monitor quality of fish feed and seeds in the state. A world-class lab is also being built in the state to improve the quality of all fish-based products.
Chitla is the state fish of UP. In common language it is called Chital. It grows up to 4 feet tall. But the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) some time ago declared chital was in critically endangered category.
Prashant started a campaign to save He got one lakh chital fingerlings from West Bengal for upstream of Ganga and Yamuna rivers. This is expected to enhance chital population whole also improving rivers’ ecology.
