Chennai:
DMK President M Karunanidhi today urged the Central and state governments to take prompt action towards the release of 16 fishermen who are currently lodged in a jail in Iran.
Referring to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention on the issue, he said "instead of waiting for the Central government to pay the fine, Tamil Nadu Government itself should pay it and take steps in bringing back the fishermen. That is the expectation of the fishermen community".
The fishermen hailing from various places in the state and employed by a private firm in Saudi Arabia were convicted and sentenced by an Iranian court to undergo six months imprisonment and pay a fine of USD 5,750 each after they accidentally entered the Iranian waters.
Taking a dig at Jayalalithaa's statement that she came to know about the incident after the families of fishermen met her, Karunanidhi wondered whether there was any Minister in the fisheries department.
"Why this information was not taken to the attention of the Chief Minister for the last six months??", Karunanidhi asked in his party organ 'Murasoli'.
Karunanidhi said he welcomed Jayalalithaa's another letter to Singh asking him to drop the proposal to reintroduce - National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET).
Yesterday, Jayalalithaa had urged Singh to drop the Centre's proposal to reintroduce NEET and abide by the Supreme Court ruling, quashing the test for undergraduate and post-graduate medical and dental courses.