As promised by their party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders on Sunday distributed financial assistance of ₹7 lakh each to the families of the seven fishermen affected by the recent boat capsizing incident off the Visakhapatnam coast. The cheques, amounting to ₹49 lakh in total, were handed over to the families at Jabbara Thota in One Town.

Addressing the media after distributing the cheques, former Minister Gudivada Amarnath, YSRCP Visakhapatnam district president K.K. Raju, and former MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar reiterated that the deaths of the six fishermen could have been prevented, had the government launched rescue operations immediately after the boat capsized.

The leaders alleged that although 15 days had passed since the incident, neither senior Ministers nor the administration had responded to the concerns of the bereaved families. They accused the government of neglecting the victim’s families, and limiting its response to announcing an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh for each family.

The YSRCP leaders said Mr. Jagan had fulfilled his promise by extending financial assistance of ₹7 lakh each from party funds to all the seven affected families, including to the lone survivor, Chinna, who lost his fishing boat in the accident. They reiterated that if the YSRCP returns to power, the party would provide compensation of ₹1 crore to each affected family and arrange a new fishing boat for lone survivor Chinna, whose livelihood was destroyed in the accident.