Hyderabad, April 10: Irrigation 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 said that under the BRS rule, the irrigation department functioned in an ad hoc manner. However, he added that the present Congress government was streamlining the system and making the functioning more structured.
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.
WALAMTARI, which has significant facilities including an academic block, auditoria, an indoor stadium, computer labs, hostels, and an R&D farm spread over 8 acres, has also hosted international training programmes attended by officers from 12 Afro-Asian countries. It has trained thousands of irrigation officials and farmers in water-saving technologies, micro-irrigation, crop diversification, and organic farming methods.
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.
He also discussed the institute’s organisational structure, which includes 21 working technical staff against 28 sanctioned posts and 51 non-technical staff against a sanctioned strength of 48. The Minister expressed concern over encroachments on the institute’s lands. He directed the Director General to send detailed reports on these cases and assured that he would take up the matter with the Advocate General. “These are precious lands and must be restored to the government,” he asserted.
He also supported the proposal to construct a boundary wall around the institute to prevent further encroachments.
WALAMTARI has proposed projects worth Rs 25 crore for the coming years, including induction training for newly recruited engineers, construction of a compound wall, infrastructure development, and procurement of agricultural equipment.
The institute is also working on projects with national agencies like the National Water Mission and the National Mission for Clean Ganga, aiming to promote sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, and groundwater recharge.As part of its expansion vision, WALAMTARI has proposed to be designated as a ‘Centre of Natural Farming’ to conduct master-level training programmes for scientists and farmers. Uttam Kumar Reddy said he would take up this proposal with the Centre during his next visit to Delhi. (Maxim News)
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