TSR for DAVP, AIR units in Visakhapatnam, writes to Union minister Arun Jaitley

“Visakhapatnam, as you are aware is the largest city in the newly carved state of Andhra Pradesh with a population of 22 lakh. With two major ports, one international airport, naval/defence establishments, five universities, lT parks, super specialty hospitals and several tourist attractions, a long coast and several industries in public and private sector, a rail division headquarters, Visakhapatnam is truly a throbbing cosmopolitan city,” he said.

He added that Visakhapatnam also has several newspaper publishing houses bringing out dailies in Telugu, English and Hindi, besides several evening and weekly newspaper and magazines.

He asked Mr Jaitley to sanction units of ministry of broadcasting in Visakhapatnam. “Prior to state division, AP had two PIB units in Hyderabad and Vijayawada to disseminate information to media and communicate government policies. However, after state division, AP has only one unit in Vijayawada which was chosen for historical reasons due to publication of large number of newspapers.

Visakhapatnam has more newspapers published with more vernacular and Hindi. Due to all these advantages, a unit of PIB will strengthen communication process in Visakhapatnam,” Mr Reddy added. A unit of DAVP at Visakhapatnam to focus on various developmental activities and organise roadshows on various activities including tourism has also been sought.