Mangaluru: In a piece of rather overwhelming news for the fishermen, the newly formed B S Yediyurappa government has decided to come to their rescue in a very big way.

The government has decided to waive off loans of the fishermen in the coastal districts to the tune of Rs 60.58 cr.

A decision was made by the cabinet in this regard on Monday.

A total of Rs 60.584 cr was due from 23,507 fishermen to various banks for the years 2017-18 and 2018-19. The new cabinet waived off this loan amount, thereby making the fishermen community heave a sigh of relief.

A delegation from Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts had recently met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa under the leadership of Udupi MLA Raghupathy Bhat in this regard. The CM held a discussion with the officials concerned and took this decision.

Mangaluru South MLA Vedavyas Kamath, while thanking the CM, said that he hardly took any time to make a decision that is going to help thousands of families.