Telangana Minister Presses Centre for Fair Share of Funds for State Development

Hyderabad — Vakiti Srihari, the State's Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, has called on the Central government to allocate resources equitably to Telangana while supporting ongoing initiatives in fisheries, dairy development and animal husbandry.

The minister held discussions with Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh on Tuesday at the National Fisheries Development Board office in Rajendranagar. The meeting was attended by Fisheries department Director Nikhila, Animal Husbandry official Lakshmi Narayana and other senior officials.

During the engagement, Srihari outlined the various programmes currently being rolled out across Telangana under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's administration. He highlighted their progress and requested sustained backing from New Delhi for these initiatives.

The talks focused on areas including aquaculture expansion, insurance schemes for the life sciences sector, and balanced resource distribution, encompassing provisions for mopeds. Singh indicated openness to the proposals and pledged that they would receive consideration.

Srihari underscored that since the Centre functions as a union comprising multiple states, financial disbursement must be fair and proportionate across all states. He also noted that the previous administration had struggled to secure adequate central funding for the state.

The state government has prioritised the development of 46,000 major tanks, 26,000 minor tanks and 100 reservoirs situated between the Godavari and Krishna river systems, Srihari added.

The question of potentially relocating the NFDB from its current location in Rajendranagar surfaced during the meeting. Singh clarified that no such relocation plan exists and confirmed that the board would remain operational from Rajendranagar.

Following the discussions, Srihari presented Singh with a shawl, flowers and a commemorative token.