YSR Congress party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said he would increase the fishing holiday cash compensation from ₹4,000 to ₹10,000 and the ex gratia for fishermen lost at sea from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
Addressing a public meeting at Narsapur in West Godavari district as part of his ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’ (3,000-km padayatra), he said fishermen complained to him that the Telugu Desam government was not paying the ₹4,000 compensation for the two-month period from April 15. When his party comes to power in 2019, they would be paid ₹10,000.
Fishing was a high risk vocation and the families were destroyed when the bread winners were killed. There was a needed to increase ex gratia to ₹10 lakh, he said. Mr. Jagan said he would establish a separate corporation for the developmental needs of the community. Unlike the TDP governnment which was not registering all new boats as it would require payment of diesel subsidy, the YSRC would register them and even increase the subsidy.
The Mahanadu was an “international contest for promulgating falsehoods”, he said.
Leaders competed with one another in it, he alleged. While the TDP claimed that it had fulfilled 98% of the promises made in the election manifesto, the fate of the first five files signed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu proved that the claim made at the meeting was false, he said.
Crop loans
According to the TDP election manifesto, crop loans of ₹87,612 crore including all gold loans taken by farmers and loans to Self Help Groups (SHG) should be waived, mineral water should be supplied at ₹2 a litre in 48,000 habitations, number of pensions increased and all belt-shops (unauthorised liquor shops) closed. The Chief Minister signed orders for the implementation of these benefits but not even one had been fulfilled, Mr. Jagan alleged.
