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SRIKAKULAM: Department of Fisheries decided to complete process of enrolment of fishermen for the issue of biometric smart cards very soon in Srikakulam district. The department has so far collected photos, finger prints and signatures from 30,000 fishermen and remaining 20,000 will be covered in a phased manner. The department which introduced on-line system for the registration said there was good response from fishermen in the district. Biometric identity cards are compulsory to fishermen engaged in deep-sea fishing as part of beefing up coastal security. The identity card was going to be an important document for a fisherman, the officials said, adding that once the scheme was complete, Coast Guard personnel would not allow anyone to fish without the biometric identity card. The scheme for issuing biometric identity cards for fishermen in the State has been launched as part of a directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs' to keep vigil along the coasts in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

"The officials have already collected the data relating to 33,316 fishermen in 66 villages after conducting an extensive survey in the 10 coastal mandals of the district for issue of tamper-proof ID cards using fingerprinting technology and pooling the information in a centralised database of the centre to better manage the internal security. The ID card comprising details like the name of the fisherman, parents' names, address, educational qualification, ration card number and voter ID card number, would be very be very useful particularly when fishermen were stranded in the high seas at times of natural calamities, he added. In all, 4,190 fishing boats were registered in the district so far as per the Centre's directive, he said."