Stale fish

Fish out of water

That’s us, you and me, the real fish out of water albeit in a different context here. Remember last week I said that there’s this scheme called the ‘Goa Value Added Tax based subsidy on HSD oil consumed by fishing vessels scheme 2006’ wherein an amount equivalent to Rs 6 per litre or the actual VAT paid whichever is less is paid to the owner of a fishing vessel eligible under this scheme as subsidy; limited to a quota of 16,000 KL/year for the whole fishing industry. Also, under the 100 per cent centrally sponsored scheme called ‘The Fishermen Development Rebate’ a rebate of Rs 1.50/lt of HSD oil is paid. Under the VAT racket (can’t think of a better word considering the price of fish) the trawler owners could sink their teeth into Rs 9,57,40,396 of your by now much abused tax money in 2005-06. In 2006-07, the bait was Rs 9,54,38,213. In 2007-08, the payout was Rs 9,42,65,076 and in 2008-9, it was Rs 7,75,74,167. Now, that is a huge, huge Rs 36,30,17,852 blown up on trawler owners over a mere four years during which time the price of fish has soared like the amazing Flying Fish.

Unlike the Biblical ‘fish and loaves multiplication’ – at least that came to pass feeding the really, really hungry – our ‘rich’ trawler owners many of whom own sprawling and colourful homes and drive SUVs get to reap the harvest, so to speak. Under the ‘Fishermen Development Rebate’ Rs 39,59,000 was fed to them in 2004-05. In 2005-06 a subsidy of Rs 2,89,00,000 was paid. In 2006-07 the subsidy was Rs 1,50,00,00. In 2008-09 the subsidy paid was Rs 2,05,54,000. Now, here’s a punch in the pectoral (aka body blow) since we are talking fish terminology here. This particular subsidy works out to Rs 8,22,48,000 and together they total Rs 44,52,65,852. But then this is the land of freebies, subsidies and golden opportunities for bhaillos.

Hook, Line and Sinker

But this I think is the real deal. In 2005-06 the trawlers burnt up a phenomenal 1,63,88,317 litres of HSD Oil. In 2006-07 the diesel consumed was 1,62,74,165 litres. In 2007-08 it was 1,60,31,480 litres and in 2008-09 it was 1,71,95,560 litres. You do the math, is it really worth it, all that diesel burnt up, that is. Worse, did they really, burn up all that? You be the judge. All I can say is there is something extremely fishy going on out at sea and it’s all not about catching fish. What next? If the Fisheries Minister Joaquim Alemao is to be believed, and he said so recently, the Goa government will now subsidize trawlers owners to the extent of Rs 50,000 each if they fit their trawlers with GPS (Global Positioning System) which is to be made mandatory for the nearly 1,200 trawlers in Goa.

Sticky Fingers

It’s official. After the sellout of Goa two years ago, it’s now a buyer’s market. In fact, like some of the landowners in Nerul who sold their farm land to a North Indian who then promptly proceeded to build the biggest house there including a helipad, many land owners are now regretting their anxiety to sell though it made them cash-rich. Turns out, this broker tells me that a bunch of marauding Dilli brokers are actively selling any property they can lay their grubby hands on, to buyers in New Delhi. It works like this. They present Goans with dollar signs in their eyes in the form of an MoU that offers to pay an advance that is tantalizing enough for Goans, who apart from that Gulf job, know of no other way to make big bucks the easy way. The broker, who all this while has been pretending to be the buyer then rushes off to Delhi, returning a few months later with an entirely new buyer. What the broker promised would be ‘soon’ now turns out to mean many months later. In the case of some dumb Goans, when they eventually decide to sell out to a new buyer because they couldn’t wait any longer, they are hauled off to court. The loophole cleverly presented by the Men in Black (lawyers) is an equally shrewdly encrypted ‘grace period’ which is nebulous and undefined even in court. So often ‘grace period’ is gracelessly made out to be enough months to give the Dilli broker time to find buyers. When I last checked there was at least one clever broker doing the same thing. And guess what, a South-based builder tells me he duped a couple of foreigners. In fact, there’s money pouring in from the Hospet-Bellary Reddy Brothers who shorn off the brick red sheen of their iron ore, are now shining in Goa buying up land. There’s also this other ‘settler’ you need to particularly fear. You will know him when he starts to give you his spiritual B….. S….. . Believe me, you will know. But, do try really hard not to be that Goan with the ‘fate accompli’, because then even God can’t help you.

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