Notification making seafarers’ pension permanent soon: Commissioner NRI Affairs

Commissioner NRI Affairs, Narendra Sawaikar on Wednesday 5 April  announced that a notification making the pension scheme for retired seafarers permanent will soon be issued by the government post-budget speech of Chief Minister PramodSawant.

The former South Goa MP took the platform of the blood donation camp organised by the Goan Seamen Association of India (GSAI) on the occasion of the 60th National Maritime Day to acknowledge the immense contribution made by the Goan seafarers to the economic growth of the nation and Goa.

Extending his greetings on the occasion of National Maritime Day, Sawaikar said

“My association with the seafarers dates back to over a decade ago when a delegation of seafarers had called on me at Cuncolim with a plea to work out a pension scheme for the retired seamen and widows. The BJP government decided to introduce the pension scheme for the seafarers in Goa,” he said, adding that Goa is the only State in the country which has a pension scheme for retired seafarers and widows.

Recalling the days when the Covid pandemic had raised its ugly head across the world, Sawaikar pointed out that many seafarers were stranded in different countries, adding that the situation gave the NRI office and the government an opportunity to serve the seafarers by getting them safely back home.