CENTRE REJECTS TS REQUEST FOR TURMERIC BOARD

Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday rejected the Telangana state government’s request for establishment of a Turmeric Board at Nizamabad, the turmeric hub of South India.

She said that the Central government cannot establish individual Boards for each commercial crop.

However, Ms Sitharaman said that the Centre was ready to establish a Spices Park clubbing one or two commercial crops at Nizamabad if the state government was willing to allot land.

She was speaking to newsmen in New Delhi when her attention was drawn to the repeated requests for the Turmeric Board by the TS government and Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha.

The commerce minister said it was not possible to set up individual boards for every crop.

“We have already established Spices Boards for the entire country, if the Telangana government insists and allots land, the Centre will set up Spices Park at the same place that can take care of the needs of turmeric farmers,” Ms Sitharaman said.