Prominent Members of Telugu Television Industry Meet Telangana Film, TV & Theatre Development Corporation MD Smt. Priyanka IAS
Led by Shri Nagabala Suresh Kumar, Founder President of the Telugu Television Workers and Technicians Federation, the meeting saw participation from over 60 industry members. Prominent among them were popular actors Ashok Kumar, G.L. Srinivas, Lahari, Madhu Priya, Manik, and Suryakala; Directors and Writers Association Presidents Shri Prem Raj and Narendra; Presidents of the Telugu Telangana Cine-TV Artists Association Raj Shekhar, Gopala Krishna, M.S. Prasad, and Chittaranjan Das; lyricist Venigalla Rambabu; along with Satyam Yabi Master, Akkineni Sridhar Lakshmi, Dr. Sriram Datti, Sriram Raju Lakshminarayana, Bhaskarla Vasu, Narender Reddy, and RDS Prakash.
The Telugu television industry, which began its journey with the iconic Chitralahari program on Doordarshan, has today grown into a massive creative ecosystem. It now encompasses 148 satellite channels, 82 YouTube channels, and 9 OTT platforms, producing nearly 180 daily shoots. The industry provides direct employment to about 20,000 professionals and indirectly supports over 1.26 lakh livelihoods. Beyond its entertainment value, it contributes significantly to the economy through taxes like TDS and GST, generating thousands of crores in revenue.
Despite this remarkable growth, representatives pointed out that the television sector still lacks adequate government recognition, policy support, and welfare measures. They appealed to the Managing Director to consider initiatives such as:
Establishing a dedicated “TV Nagar” for television workers and technicians
Providing double-bedroom homes for poor and homeless workers
Introducing life and accident insurance schemes
Granting a monthly pension of ₹10,000 for workers aged 60 and above
Instituting annual awards in memory of T.L. Kantha Rao and Paidi Jairaj
Conducting seminars and workshops to upgrade professional skills
A detailed representation outlining these proposals was formally submitted to Smt. Priyanka IAS.
In response, the Managing Director acknowledged the immense growth and contribution of the television sector, noting that film, TV, and OTT production are now thriving at a global scale. She assured the delegation that under the leadership of Telangana Chief Minister Shri Revanth Reddy, steps will be taken to extend support to the TV industry on par with other creative sectors.
She also pledged to take the federation’s requests to the Chief Minister, the Minister for Information and Cinematography, and the Corporation’s Chairman, Shri Dil Raju. Smt. Priyanka IAS further assured that initiatives such as the establishment of TV Nagar, insurance schemes, and pensions would be actively pursued, with discussions on financial feasibility to be held with the Chief Minister soon.
On this occasion, Director-Producer Lakshman Rekha Gopala Krishna’s book History of Television was officially launched, alongside the brochure for the upcoming Film and Television Awards organized by Bussa Balaraju.
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