Farmers drying paddy at Siddipet IT tower: BJP MLA tells Assembly

Several BJP MLAs raised concerns in the Assembly over the poor utilisation of IT towers in districts, pointing to lack of employment opportunities and farmers using the premises for drying paddy. IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu admitted that many towers remained under-occupied but also announced that the Adilabad IT tower would be launched shortly.

Hyderabad: Several MLAs expressed concern over the poor state of affairs at IT towers established in different districts, particularly the lack of employment opportunities.

BJP MLA from Sirpur Palvai Harish Babu said farmers were drying paddy in front of the IT tower established at Siddipet. The previous government had established the IT tower at a cost of Rs. 52 crore, he said during Question Hour in the Assembly on Friday.

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The BJP MLA said he usually stopped at a cafeteria next to the IT tower in Siddipet and pointed out that IT Minister D Sridhar Babu also regularly used the route. The situation at the IT tower in Karimnagar was also not encouraging, he added.

Similarly, BJP MLA Katipally Venkata Ramana Reddy questioned the employment opportunities likely to be generated at the IT tower in Nizamabad.

In reply, the IT Minister said the IT tower in Nizamabad had 881 seats. Of these, 338 were occupied, while there was scope to accommodate another 400 employees, he said.

He said the IT tower at Nalgonda was constructed at a cost of Rs.100 crore. However, barring a few companies, most of the facilities remained unoccupied.

Responding to demands from other MLAs for establishing IT towers in their areas, Sridhar Babu said the State government was ready to develop new IT towers if anchor or industry partners came forward. The Minister also announced that the IT tower at Adilabad would be launched shortly.