Paradip, March 27: The Odisha government has renewed its drive to strengthen coastal security mechanism. It has also extended social security to people eking out a living from marine fishing by distributing advanced biometric identification cards.

After a four-year hiatus, the process of giving marine fisheries identity cards (MFIC) to fishermen, who were not earlier covered under the scheme, has started again.

"In the first phase of card distribution that was undertaken in 2012-13, 1.53 lakh fishermen and stakeholders were covered. The second phase of distributing biometric cards to fishermen at their doorsteps is now under way. We plan to cover 1.05 lakh people depending on fishing and ancillary activities," said the additional fisheries officer Bharat Bhusan Sahoo.

"The biometric card is a vital document for identification throughout the country's coastal zones. It also provides fishermen with a unique identity number. It is a smart card containing personal information including a digital photograph, fingerprints, domicile status and address. Data is stored in a microprocessor chip and this empowers fishermen to get benefits of various welfare schemes. We also have a fishery monitoring, control and surveillance centre," said Sahoo.

The introduction of biometric card also forms a vital component of coastal security. The seagoing fishermen are often referred as "eye and ear" of the coastal security mechanism. It is the fishermen and the crewmembers on board who could easily keep track of vessels which move suspiciously.

"The MFIC cards empower the fishermen with identity proof, which would protect them from interception during security patrolling," said Madhabanand Sahoo, the nodal officer of coastal security and additional police superintendent of Paradip.

The biometric identity cards have been made mandatory for fishermen of seaworthy vessels. Fishermen without identity cards and fishing licences in these areas are liable for punishment and confiscation of vessels, said the nodal officer.

The MFIC project was envisaged as part of strengthening the coastal surveillance system soon after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

"The drive to distribute biometric cards to designated fishermen got under way on a daily basis. We have plans to distribute the cards to each of the identified fishermen," said Sahoo.

Majority of seagoing vessels in the coastal pockets are registered ones though there are stray cases of unregistered boats ferrying across the sea. For hassle-free availability of licence and permit, the department has introduced online registration facility for boat and vessel owners.

While Paradip coast accounts for 1,100 registered seaworthy vessels, the neighbouring Kendrapara has around 870 registered seafaring boats.

In accordance with the directives of the Union ministry of home affairs (internal security department), the biometric identification programme has been introduced to provide all fishermen along the coastal states with advanced biometric identification cards in order to ensure safe faring in deep waters and help security agencies identify intrusion by terrorists.