AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has once again proved that he is a leader firmly committed to the welfare of people. The chief minister on Wednesday launched online the ‘YSR Matsyakara Bharosa’ (YSR Fishermen’s Assurance) scheme at CM Camp office in Tadepalli. As part of the scheme, the State government will provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000, to 1,09,231 fishermen and the amount has directly been credited into their bank accounts on Wednesday.

YS Jagan had a virtual interaction with fishermen after launching the scheme. The fishermen expressed their happiness over the state government providing financial assistance during this crisis time and thanked Chief Minister YS Jagan for his support.

The State government has launched the YSR Matsyakara Bharosa scheme with an aim to mitigate the hardships of the fishermen during the off-season. The fishermen traditionally will have no livelihood during monsoon as no fishing activity will be possible during the wet season. This year, the fishermen lost their livelihood much earlier due to the lockdown being enforced to contain Coronavirus pandemic in the state.

Speaking about the scheme, YS Jagan said that, as part of his commitment, his YSRCP government has enhanced the financial assistance to fishermen to Rs 10,000. Earlier, it used to be only Rs 4,000, he said.

The chief minister reminded that the AP government has launched various schemes including ‘YSR Matsyakara Bharosa’ last year at Mummidivaram on the occasion of world fisheries day for improving the lives of fishermen.

YS Jagan said that the YSRCP government has released Rs 70.53 crore in November 2019 as a financial aid to the families who were affected by the GSPL drilling.

The state government has also made efforts for the release of AP fishermen who were imprisoned in Pakistan besides giving Rs Five lakh to each of them after their release, said YS Jagan.

The AP Chief Minister said, "Recently 4,500 AP fishermen were stranded in Gujarat due to lockdown. We have spoken to Gujarat CM and Union ministers and brought them back to the state by spending Rs 3 Crore and gave Rs. 2,000 to each fisherman after returning."

He added that YSRCP government has increased Diesel subsidy from Rs 6.03 to Rs 9, and doubled the ex-gratia from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh which is given to the kin of deceased fisherman.

YS Jagan added that the state government will build eight major fishing harbours in the state along with fish landing centers with a budget of Rs. 3,000 crores. All these projects will be constructed within a span of three years.

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