Telangana urges Centre not to shift Spices Board office to Nizamabad

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Friday urged the Centre to drop a proposal to shift the regional office of Spices Board from Warangal to Nizamabad. Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar wrote a letter to Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal, saying that shifting of the regional office would be a huge loss to chilli farmers in Warangal. “Instead, it would be better to set up a turmeric board in Nizamabad in view of the promises made to turmeric farmers,” Vinod said in the letter.He also said the Spices Board regional office was of great help to chilli farmers in getting subsidies and marketing links.

The regional office was set up in Warangal in 2008. Vinod said rumours about shifting the regional office to Nizamabad is causing unrest among local farmers. Chilli is cultivated in 70,000 hectares in the state and 70% in Warangal alone. Also, turmeric is grown in 20,000 acres in the common Warangal district, officials explained.
Vinod Kumar told TOI that the move to shift the regional office to Nizamabad looked more like a stop-gap arrangement to please agitated turmeric farmers there. “BJP has promised to get the turmeric board to Nizamabad. Since it may not happen immediately, the Spices Board regional office shifting is being pushed through,” he said.
The regional office in Warangal takes care of AP and Telangana farmers’ needs and at least 10,000 chilli growers are directly benefited, officials said. While the turmeric board issue is a bone of contention between TRS and BJP, turmeric farmers announced that they will begin next phase of agitation after Ganesh Chaturthi.