Hon'ble Finance Minister T. Harish Rao and Animal husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav launching mobile fish retail outlets at HMDA ground. Photo: Tharun Adurugatla
Hyderabad: Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Saturday said the integrated vegetarian and non-vegetarian markets would soon come up in all the cities across the State. The State government has allocated Rs 500 crore for this purpose in the Budget, the Minister said after flagging off 117 mobile fish outlets at HMDA grounds here. These vehicles will visit the colonies to enable customers purchase fish or fish curries near their residence only.
Each vehicle was designed in such a way that both fish and fish curries could be sold simultaneously. Of the total Rs 10 lakh cost of each vehicle, the State government and National Fisheries Development Board is spending Rs 6 lakh while the remaining Rs 4 lakh will be the beneficiary’s contribution.
Harish also handed over Rs 45 lakh revolving fund cheques to 13 women fisheries cooperative societies at the programme. Speaking on the occasion, he said the State government was encouraging the traditional occupations on a large scale to help them sustain financially.
Mobile Fish Retail outlets. Photo: Tharun Adurugatla
For the welfare of fishermen community, the State government has spent Rs 1,000 crore and plans have been chalked out to construct check dams at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore. The fishermen community can cultivate fish in the check dams. Earlier, the fisheries industry was confined to Coastal Andhra but the Telangana government is now encouraging fish cultivation on a massive scale.
Harish said the water bodies in the State were filled with Krishna and Godavari water and even in the summer these water bodies were brimming with water. The State government is supplying fish for free to the fishermen.
Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, who was also present at the programme, said the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was striving for the development of rural areas and financially helping the people, who are depending on traditional occupations.
The State government in undivided Andhra Pradesh allocated only Rs 10 crore for the Fisheries Department but the TRS government has now allocated Rs 100 crore. This shows the government’s commitment towards the people, he added. Of the 117 vehicles, 70 would be sent to the districts, he said adding that efforts were on to increase the number of outlets to 500 in future.
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