TRS seeks for Spices Board to remain in Warangal

Hyderabad: Expressing concerns over the possible shifting of the Spices Board from Warangal to Nizamabad, the TRS government has requested the Centre not to do so. The Telangana State Planning Board on Friday wrote a letter to the Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goel. Further, the Telangana government has requested that the Centre set up the Turmeric Board in Nizamabad.

Mr B Vinod Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the Telangana State Planning Board, said that shifting of the Spices Board will result in a lot of problems to the farming community as it'll jeopardise the logistics. The Spices Board was set up in Warangal in 2008 when Vinod Kumar was the MP from the Hanamkonda Lok Sabha constituency.

"For the past eleven years, the Regional Office has been helpful to farmers, exporters, traders and NGOs. Chilli and turmeric are the major spices in Warangal district as 70 per cent of 73,777 ha of chilli cultivation in Telangana are in this region. 60 per cent of 50,154 ha turmeric cultivation in Telangana is also in this region. Recently, the land was allocated for the construction of a permanent building for the Spices Board in Warangal. At this juncture, shifting the Spices Board from Warangal to Nizamabad is not advisable," said Mr Vinod Kumar.

He further expressed concerns over the rumours about the relocation of the Spices Board as it is creating panic among the farmers and other stakeholders in the region.

"So far, the forward and backward linkages for this regional office during the past eleven years have been created. I appeal to you and the Government of India not to encourage anything in this direction. I would also like to request you that instead of thinking about shifting a well-established centre, it would be encouraging for Telangana if the Centre comes up with a Turmeric Board in Nizamabad, which is one of the leading producers in Telangana," remarked Mr Vinod Kumar.