Udupi: The Karnataka government will extend protection to the state’s coast and will prioritise the problem of sea-erosion in the coastal districts, said Minister of Fisheries, Port and Inland Transport Kota Srinivas Poojary.
Speaking to media persons, after offering “bagina” to the Swarna River near the Sri Siddhivinayaka Temple, Shimbra on August 29, Poojary said that he would try and find solutions to the problems pertaining to harbours within the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, and Udupi.
“We try our best to provide fishermen with all the facilities such as diesel subsidies for mechanised fishing boats and kerosene subsidies for traditional fishing boats,” he added.
Responding to a question, Poojary said that he was holding discussions with Labour Department officials in order to bring fishermen under the organised sector. “But it will not be possible to provide fishermen with all the facilities given to construction workers due to some legal issues. The funds that are collected as construction cess is used only for the benefit of construction workers. We will hold another meeting with leaders of the fishermen community and Labour Department officials,” he said.
Responding to another query about the Suvarna Tribhuja fishing boat incident, Poojary said that he had written to the Union Government, asking for the kin of the seven missing fishermen to be compensated. “The Fisheries Department is also working with ISRO to install communication systems in fishing boats so that the boat operators can contact the authorities during emergencies,” he added.
Later, Srinivas Poojary said that the state government had taken steps to prevent the misuse of funds provided to temples from the Muzrai Department. The department provides annual grants worth Rs 48,000 to over 27,000 temples across the state.
Poojary further said, “Previously, there have been complaints from temple priests and management committees that there is discrimination and delay in obtaining the grant money. In order to solve this problem, the government has decided to deposit the grant money directly to the bank accounts owned by the temples.”
Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat was also present.
