TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: Retired seamen and families of seafarers on Wednesday threatened to vote against the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha polls if the two Congress MPs Francisco Sardinha and Shantaram Naik fail to impress upon the Centre to give a grant of Rs 280 crore towards the Seafarers Welfare Fund Society for enhancement of their pension.
Addressing the media, retired seamen warned that they and their families would be compelled to vote for the BJP in the coming polls if the Centre fails to give the financial grant of Rs 280 crore to the seafarers welfare society. ‘NUSI general secretary Abdulgani Serang says that the ex-gratia monetary relief of Rs 200 to retired seamen cannot be enhanced because the seafarers welfare society have not received the Rs 280 crore grant from the centre. If this is the situation, we urge both Sardinha and Shantaram to impress upon the Congress-led UPA government to sanction the grant before the elections”, warned retired seafarer Xavier Costa.
He lashed out at the previous Congress government for doing nothing for the amelioration of the condition of retired seafarers and praised the BJP for coming out with a monthly pension for retired seamen and widows.
“Though some of these Congress Ministers were seafarers in the past, they did not do anything for the community. The Congress government only filled their pockets without working out schemes for the retired seafarers”, he asserted.
