The State government is making efforts on a war-footing to bring back around 300 Indian fishermen, including many from T.N., who are currently stranded in Iran, where air transport has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 threat, Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar informed the Assembly on Tuesday.
The Minister was replying to Congress legislator S. Rajesh Kumar (Killiyoor), who raised the issue in the House.
Though there had been a plan to airlift 58 fishermen, it was eventually suspended, the Minister said.
When Mr. Rajesh Kumar referred to a long-term demand of the fishemen that they be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs), Mr. Jayakumar accepted it was a genuine request for a long time and the State government endorsed the demand. The matter was pending with the Commissioner concerned, he added.
