10 



MADRAS FISHERIES BULLBTIN VOL, XIII 



40. Advances to divers. — In accordance with G.O. No. 3948, 

 llevenue, dated 18th December 1918, the Assistant Director of 

 Fisheries (Marine) is allowed a temporary advance of Es. 8,000 

 for chank fishery operations for (1) purchase of chanks, (2) contin- 

 gent expenditure and (8) grant of advances to divers during the 

 chank fishery season. I found that a large amount of this advance 

 was not refunded to the treasury at the end of the season and that 

 this was due to the fact that the divers owed to Government a 

 considerable amount on account of advances which have not been 

 refunded. I investigated this question therefore in some detail 

 during my inspections at Tuticoriu, Eameswaram, etc. 



41. In recent years it has been the custom to give divers advances 

 in accordance with the usual practice among merchants. These 

 advances should be recouped from the earnings of the divers. A 

 statement (No. VII) is appended showing the amounts of advances 

 made in each year to the Tinnevelly, Eameswaram, Tirupalakudi and 

 Kilakarai divers respectively and the amounts recovered. It will 

 be seen that the practice began in the year 1909 when Rs. 112 were 

 advanced to Tuticoriu divers and only Es. 8 were recovered. Ad- 

 vances were made to the Tirupalakudi and Kilakarai divers first in 

 the year 1914-1 5 and to the Eameswaram divers first in the year 

 1916. The total advances issued amounted to Es. 15,210-1-1 of 

 which Es. 11,598-0-6 have been recovered leaving a balance out- 

 standing at the end of last season of Es. 3,618-0-7. Advances 

 nave been occasionally written off as irrecoverable on account of 

 such circumstances as the death of the divers from whom they were 

 due. I found that in certain cases the accumulation of advances 

 was due to unsuccessful fisheries organized by the Government ; and 

 it appeared to me that in such cases the Government and not the 

 divers should bear the loss which was due to the failure of experi- 

 ments made by the Government. I have recommended to the 

 Government that the amount of Es. 952-1-3 should be remitted on 

 this account. As the total advance outstanding on this date is now 

 reported to be Es. 3,226-8-8, this leaves a balance of Es. 2^274-7-5. 

 The Assistant Director of Fisheries (Marine) hopes to recover this 

 amount from the divers when paying the value of chanks to them 

 during the ensuing season. 



42. This practice of keeping divers in perpetual debt to the 

 Government is, in my opinion, objectionable and should be stopped. 

 If the fisheries fail, the advances made to divers should be written 

 off as the divers are paid only by results according to the number 

 of chanks which they recover and do not receive any daily wages, 

 but the figures appear to indicate that advances have been given 

 without due consideration to the probability of their recovery in the 



