3,796 Fishermen Get Financial Aid in Vizianagaram
“We will examine the possibility of upgrading the fish landing center at Chintapalli to a full-fledged harbor if technically feasible,” the minister added. He announced plans for promoting seaweed cultivation through women fishermen’s groups and introducing solar dryers for fish processing.
Visakhapatnam: The Vizianagaram district administration distributed financial assistance totaling Rs 7.59 crore to 3,796 coastal fishermen on Monday. Each fisherman received Rs 20,000 as assistance during the annual fishing ban period.
Speaking on the occasion, minister Kondapalli Srinivas said that the assistance was part of the coalition government’s election promise to support fishing communities.
“As promised, we have doubled the hunting ban period allowance from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per family,” he said. “Across the state, we are providing Rs 259 crore to 129,718 fishermen under this scheme.”
The minister outlined several initiatives aimed at improving fishermen’s livelihoods, including monthly pensions to 68,396 fishermen statewide, Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for deaths during fishing operations, and a Rs 9 per liter diesel subsidy for fishing boats. He also mentioned plans to establish 10 fish landing centers and 5 fishing harbors across the state.
“We will examine the possibility of upgrading the fish landing center at Chintapalli to a full-fledged harbor if technically feasible,” the minister added. He announced plans for promoting seaweed cultivation through women fishermen’s groups and introducing solar dryers for fish processing.
MLAs Lokam Nagamadhavi, Aditi Gajapathi, MLC Indukuri Raghuraj and district collector B.R. Ambedkar were present.