Udupi : Kota Srinivas Poojary, Minister for Ports and Fisheries, and Muzrai, said on Thursday that he would try to find solutions to the issues concerning fisheries harbours and jetties in the three coastal districts.

Speaking to presspersons after offering bagina to the Swarna near the Sri Siddhivinayaka Temple at Shimbra here, Mr. Poojary said that he would also give importance to protection of the coast and also give priority to the problem of sea erosion in the coastal districts.

The issues of diesel subsidy to mechanised boat fishermen and kerosene subsidy to traditional boat fishermen would also be taken care of. “We will try to give all possible facilities to the fishermen,” he said.

To a question, Mr. Poojary said that his ministry had held talks with the officers of the Labour Department to bring fishermen under the unorganised sector. But it would not be possible to provide all facilities given to construction workers to the fishermen because of some legal issues.

The funds collected as construction cess could be used only for the benefit of construction workers. “We will hold another meeting between the leaders of fishermen community and officers of Labour Department,” he said.

Answering a question, Mr. Poojary said that the State government had written to the Union government to provide compensation to the kin of seven fishermen onboard the fishing boat Suvarna Tribhuja which sunk off Malvan coast in Maharashtra in December 2018.

The Department of Fisheries was working with the ISRO to install communication systems in boats so that the boat operators could contact authorities during emergencies, he said.

Mr. Poojary said that the government had taken steps to prevent misuse of funds provided to the temples under the Muzrai Department. The government was providing annual grants (tasthik) of ₹48,000 each to 27,000 temples under the Muzrai Department. There were complaints from the priests and management committees of the temples that there was discrimination and delay in getting the annual grants. Hence, the government had decided to deposit the grants to the bank accounts of the temples and issued orders to the effect, he said.

The removal process of sand had been simplified and the process of sand removal would start in Udupi district within a fortnight, Mr. Poojary said.

K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, was present.