Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday pledged to restore the past glory of the Water and Land Management Training and Research Institute (WALAMTARI) at Rajendranagar.
He assured that the State government would grant the necessary additional funds to resume the institute’s core functions, including training and research in irrigation and land management.
Uttam Kumar Reddy visited the institute along with Panchayat Raj Minister D Seethakka, Mahabubabad MP Balram Naik, and other senior officials. WALAMTARI Director General M. Anita presented a detailed overview of the institute’s history, activities, and current challenges.
The Minister was shocked to learn that WALAMTARI — established in 1983 as a World Bank-aided project and recognised as one of the four apex training institutions in Telangana — was not conducting training programmes on a regular basis.
Officials informed him that except for salary allocations, no funds had been released in recent years for training, research, or infrastructure development.
Blaming the previous BRS government for the institute’s neglect, Uttam Kumar Reddy said WALAMTARI had been reduced to a symbolic entity despite its vast infrastructure, skilled workforce, and strategic importance in training irrigation engineers, agriculture officers, and farmers.
He directed the institute to immediately resume induction, refresher, and specialised training programmes for engineers and agriculture officers. He promised to write to all government departments encouraging them to utilise WALAMTARI’s services. “This institute has the potential to become self-reliant if other departments and States begin to use its training services,” he said.
The Minister also stressed the importance of extending WALAMTARI’s training programmes to farmers and rural youth.
Uttam Kumar Reddy inspected several wings of the institute and reviewed infrastructure like computer labs, training halls, the hostel complex, and a potential venue for an upcoming programme where Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will distribute appointment letters to 224 newly recruited Assistant Engineers and 199 Junior Technical Officers in the Irrigation department.