Kota promises to address issues concerning coastal fishermen through the Central government

The BJP candidate for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency Kota Srinivas Poojary on Tuesday said he will make earnest attempts to address issues being faced by the coastal fishers through the Central government when elected to the Lok Sabha.

The BJP candidate for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency Kota Srinivas Poojary on Tuesday said he will make earnest attempts to address issues being faced by the coastal fishers through the Central government when elected to the Lok Sabha.

Addressing fishermen leaders at the Malpe Fishermen’s Association at Malpe near Udupi, Mr. Poojary noted that the fishers have been contributing immensely to the national economy. As such, it was the duty of elected representatives to empower the fishers further.

Mr. Poojary noted that the coastal fishermen have consistently been the voice for nationalism and Hindutva and were supporting the BJP for the comprehensive development of the country. He believed that they would continue their support to ensure Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues in the office for the third term.

The BJP candidate said as the Fisheries Minister earlier, he had ensured loan waiver of about 22,000 fisherwomen to the tune of about ₹60 crore. He had also got ₹180 crore sanctioned for the Hejmady fishing port development, a long pending demand of the fishers of the region, besides prioritising improvement of different fishing ports.

Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna said the Central government had released ₹28,000 crore for the welfare of fishers across the country through the Prime Minister’s Matsya Sampada Yojana. The BJP has also demonstrated its commitment towards the welfare of the fishermen by establishing a separate Ministry for fisheries besides launching the Sagarmala scheme for developing ports. He said the BJP was committed to implement more projects for the fishermen besides comprehensive development of the fisheries sector, the MLA said urging fishers to elect Mr. Poojary to strengthen the hands of Mr. Modi.

BJP Fishermen Cell Udupi district convener Raviraj Suvarna said the Congress did not fulfil any of its assurances towards the fishermen. When the Suvarna Tribhuja fishing boat went missing in 2018, the then Congress government did nothing to help the affected fishers. The B.S. Yediyurappa government thereafter paid compensation to the fishermen families, he recalled.

Mr. Suvarna noted that none of the promises made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his interaction with the fishermen at Uchchila ahead of the 2023 elections were implemented by the Congress government.