Hyderabad: Under pressure from the Telangana high court, the state govt has sanctioned ₹27 crore towards dues owed to fish seed suppliers under its 2023 free fish seed distribution scheme. The amount was cleared following contempt proceedings initiated after officials failed to comply with earlier court directions to pay long-pending bills.Although the fish seed was supplied over three years ago, several firms had not received payment. After repeated delays and inaction by the fisheries and finance departments, some suppliers approached the high court. The state initially assured payment, prompting the court to direct immediate clearance of dues—but the funds were still not disbursed, leading to a contempt plea.Two weeks ago, Justice NV Shravan Kumar issued form-I contempt notices and summoned three senior IAS officers—heads of the fisheries and finance departments—as well as the district collectors of Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy.During Wednesday’s hearing, special chief secretary (fisheries) Sabyasachi Ghosh and commissioner of fisheries Priyanka Ala appeared virtually and informed the court that ₹26.97 crore had been sanctioned for firms that had moved court.However, counsel for the petitioners, DL Pandu, told the court that the finance secretary failed to appear and that the two district collectors sought exemption from personal attendance. He added that while a portion of the dues was addressed, the total pending amount is close to ₹100 crore, and multiple petitions from other suppliers remain unresolved.Pandu said the prolonged delay had pushed many suppliers into financial hardship and demanded swift disbursal of the sanctioned amount.The state’s counsel informed the court that although the budget had been approved as a special case, the transfer of funds to suppliers’ accounts would take a few more weeks, and requested a three-week extension.The court adjourned the matter to the second week of Aug for compliance.
