Govt urged to strive for uplift of fishermen

Visakhapatnam: President of National Association of Fishermen GK Bhanji and Congress leader Bolisetti Satyanarayana here on Tuesday demanded both the State and Central governments to strive for the uplift of the poor fishermen.

The two leaders, who visited the Fishing Harbour on Tuesday, told reporters that presently the fishermen were not getting subsidies on loans and diesel. They suggested to the State government to construct area-wise fish markets on the lines of Rythu Bazars to help avoid middlemen.

Satyanarayana alleged though the National Fisheries Development Board in Hyderabad is ready to grant loans to the tune of Rs 2,200 crore, but no loan applications were being sent from here.