Union minister assured to resolve rift between Andhra and Tamil Nadu fishermen

Ongole: The Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala announced that he will take measures to end the disturbances between the Andhra and Tamil Nadu fishermen. He interacted with the fishermen at Pallepalem village of Kothapatnam mandal as part of the Sagar Parikrama program on Monday night.

As part of the meeting, the fishermen raised complaints that they are facing losses due to the fishermen from Tamil Nadu fishing near Andhra villages, and even the fish production is also reducing due to their nets. They requested the minister to allocate any employment opportunities under the Sagar Mitra program to the youth from the fishermen community only and asked for an increase of the limit for Kisan Credit Cards from Rs 1.60 lakh to Rs 3.00 lakh. They urged the minister to provide a subsidy on diesel, in addition to the Rs 9 per litre subsidy by the state government, and extend livelihood assistance in the days affected due to cyclones and storms just like the allowance being provided during the fishing ban period. They also requested the minister to consider the boat, fishing nets, and engine as separate units for loan, instead of all together as a single unit.

Responding to the pleas of the fishermen, the union minister Rupala said that the fishing industry is also playing a key role in the economic development of the country. He said that the central government is committed to addressing the problems of the fishermen, and that is the reason he is touring fishermen's villages. He responded in favour of the requests by the fishermen and said that he would work for positive results. He announced that he would conduct a meeting with the officials from Andhra and Tamil Nadu to immediately resolve the trouble between the fishermen of both states.

The minister celebrated the New Year with the fishermen community, cut the cake and distributed the Kisan Credit Cards to them. MP Beeda Mastan Rao, joint collector K Srinivasulu, animal husbandry JD A Chandrasekhar Reddy, Ongole RDO Viswesvara Rao, fisheries corporation director Vayala Sumathi and others also participated in the program.