Savings and Indebtedness and its Impact on Day to Day Livelihood of Fishermen Families

Abstract

The aim of the present research paper is to examine the savings and indebtedness and its impact on day to day livelihood of fisher folk in southern coastal districts of Tamil Nadu. This study highlighted the gap in between savings and indebtedness. This survey was conducted randomly selected fisher folks (N=926). The result shows that majority of the fisher folks’ income below Rs.5000 do not have the habit of saving and least number of fisher folk have saving habit in the income group of above Rs.15001 during peak season. In lean season, majority of the fisher folk are in the income group of below Rs.3000 do not have saving habit. Few fisher folk earned income above Rs.9001 has the habit of saving. Out of 926, majority of the fisher folk (79.9%) borrowed loan from different sources. The remaining (20.1%) of them do not borrow loan. Moreover, 48% of the fisher folks’ debt is below Rs.50,000 and very few (2%) fisher folks’ debt is above Rs.5,00,001.There is a need to create awareness about the importance of saving and not to depend on money lenders for financial assistance. The fishermen should be encouraged to make use of potential fishing ground advice and modern technology. In this regard, the department of fisheries should conduct training and awareness camps at different localities to demonstrate the capability and use of Potential Fishing Zone (PEZ) advice.