Fish prasadam to be dispensed in Hyderabad on June 8

Hyderabad: Telangana government has asked the fisheries department to make available one lakh fish as the famous `fish prasadam' of Battini family, believed to cure asthma, would be dispensed here on June 8. Telangana Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav held a meeting with government officials today on arrangements for the annual event.

He asked the fisheries department to make available one lakh fish for the event, a government release said. Telangana State Road Transport Corporation would operate special services for the benefit of those coming from outside the city. The event would be held at Exhibition Grounds in Nampally area.

Hyderabad-based Battini Goud family has been dispensing the `fish prasadam' every year for several decades. The patients are made to swallow a small live fish stuffed with a herbal paste; it is claimed that it cures asthma. While the annual event attracts lakhs of people from all parts of India, rationalist groups in the past have questioned the efficacy of the so-called medicine.