Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (i) "Commission" means the Kerala Fishermen Debt Relief Commission constituted under section 3; (ii) "Fisherman" means a person for whom fishing is the main source of livelihood and includes any person engaged in fishing and allied activities as may be notified by the Government from time to time; (iii) "Fishermen Debt Relief Commission Act 1969" means the Kerala Agricultural Debt Relief Act, 1969 (11 of 1969) or any other Act providing for debt relief to any category of persons or agriculturists; (iv) "Government" means the Government of Kerala; (v) "Debt" means any liability in cash or kind, whether secured or unsecured, due from a fisherman on the date of commencement of this Act, whether payable under a contract, or under a decree or order of any Civil Court or otherwise and subsisting on such date; (vi) "Creditor" means any person from whom or any institution from which the fisherman has borrowed or incurred a debt and includes any person entitled to stand in the place of the creditor; (vii) "Bank" means the "Scheduled Bank" as defined in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934; (viii) "Co-operative Society" means a society registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (21 of 1969); (ix) "Fishermen co-operative society" means a society registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 engaged in the activities of promotion of welfare of fishermen or fishing and allied activities and which is classified as such by the Government or by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies; (x) "Debt Relief" means any relief including waiver of interest, writing off of the principal or rescheduling of the loan granted by the Commission to a fisherman in accordance with the provisions of this Act; (xi) "Kerala Fishermen Debt Relief Commission Act" means the Kerala Agricultural Debt Relief Act, 2001 (2 of 2001) as amended from time to time. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (a) “Commission” means the Kerala Fishermen Debt Relief Commission constituted under section 3; (b) “debt” means any liability in cash or kind, whether secured or unsecured, due from a fisherman on or before the commencement of this Act, whether payable under a contract, or under a decree or order of any Court, or otherwise, and includes any sum due to a financial institution or a money lender; (c) “fisherman” means a person who has taken of fishing as his principal means of livelihood and resides in the coastal areas of the State and includes such other categories of persons as may be notified by the Government from time to time; (ca) “financial institution” means a banking company as defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act 10 of 1949) and includes any other institution as may be notified by the Government; (cb) “Government” means the Government of Kerala; (cc) “money lender” means a person who carries on the business of money lending in the coastal areas of the State whether or not he holds a licence under the Kerala Money Lenders Act, 1958; (cd) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (ce) “State” means the State of Kerala.