Gandhinagar: Gujarat Congress leader Pooja Vansh on Monday alleged that the state government is depriving fishermen lodged in Pakistani jails of financial assistance in violation of norms. The fishermen of Gujarat earn their living by fishing along the 1,600 km coastline, but at times, many cross into the Pakistani waters in search of fish and are arrested by Pakistan Marine Police and land up in jail.
The Gujarat government has framed a law under which the families of such fishermen are given a financial assistance of Rs 300 per person by the Gujarat government. However, Congress MLA Pooja Vansh alleged that there are more than 200 such families who had been deprived of meagre assistance by the BJP-led state government for a petty reason.
Pooja said the the authorities are citing the police cases against the fishermen back home in the state to withhold the cash assistance leaving the families high and dry. “No assistance is given to the families of such fishermen in the state of Gujarat just because of the complaint filed in the police station,” she said. Pooja demanded that the state government should provide assistance to the families to provide them with some succour.
She also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter for the release of fishermen from the PM's home-state jailed in Pakistan. According to official figures, as many as 519 fishermen from Gujarat are lodged in Pakistani jails. Of them, 166 were arrested in 2020 and 195 in 2021.
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