Gujarat Police’s efforts to net valuable intelligence inputs from fishermen in the coastal areas seem to have come a cropper. The state Home Ministry is apparently unwilling to reimburse the expenses incurred by villagers under the Fishermen Watch Groups (FWG). For the last three years, state authorities are considering a proposal for payment to these fishermen informers.

In a bid to strengthen its intelligence network in the coastal areas, the intelligence department of the state police, had in 2005, constituted the FWG in almost all coastal villages across Gujarat.

The FWG members were handpicked on the basis of their socialising ability among the community members and were supposed to report to the local police station once a month.

They were also trained to immediately pass on information on any suspicious activity in the coastal area to the police over the phone. Some 4,000-odd fishermen were chosen for the task. The model was conceptualised by the then Additional Director-General of Police, CID (Intelligence), J Mahapatra, in order to augment close patrolling along the state’s 1,600-km coastline.

A year later, the intelligence department sent a proposal to the state Home Ministry asking the government to reimburse expanses incurred by the fishermen.

A senior officer said: “The proposal had asked for reimbursements like travel and dearness allowances for attending monthly meetings in the local police stations and money spent by these fishermen for making phone calls to the concerned police officers.”

But more than three years later, the government is yet to clear the proposal. State Home Minister Amit Shah averted the question saying, “The proposal is under consideration”.

... contd.