Rahul Gandhi issues appeal to Centre to end woes of Andhra fishermen stranded in Gujarat

On Saturday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Centre for ameliorating the woes of fishermen from Andhra Pradesh who are stranded in Gujarat. Citing an article, Gandhi stated that over 6,000 such fishermen had been confined to their fishing trawlers for over a month due to the nationwide lockdown. According to him, they were encountering unhygienic conditions and had limited access to food and water. He called upon the government to move the fishermen to relief camps so that their well being can be ensured. 

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AP government announces financial assistance to fishermen

Fishermen hailing from villages in the Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh have been stranded in Veraval along the coast of Gujarat. They are not only unable to return home, but are reportedly grappling with problems such as lack of food and sanitation facilities and non-payment of wages. On Wednesday, the Andhra Pradesh government decided to provide one-time financial assistance of Rs.2,000 each to the stranded fishermen in Gujarat. AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani seeking his intervention to extend necessary facilities to the fishermen. The Gujarat government has assured that their needs are being addressed and clarified that they could re-start fishing activity. 

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Congress slams Centre's move to freeze DA and DR

Currently, there are 24,506 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 5063 persons have recovered while 775 casualties have been reported. Meanwhile, the Congress party slammed the Centre's move to freeze the Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief at current rates till July 2021. Several key leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Dr.Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Manish Tewari stressed that this move had hurt the interests of 1.1 crore central government employees. Congress contended that withdrawing the DA hike instead of cutting wasteful expenditure was "inhuman" in the wake of the novel coronavirus crisis.

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Read: COVID-19: Congress Hits Out At Centre Over Freezing Of Dearness Allowance For Pensioners