Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh tells officials to create job opportunities on massive scale through skill development initiatives

Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh directs officials to create job opportunities, aligning skill training with industrial needs.

Andhra Pradesh Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) and Information Technology (IT) Nara Lokesh has directed officials of Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) to focus on initiating measures necessary to create job opportunities in the State on a massive scale in the next five years.

Addressing a review meeting at his residence in Undavalli on Tuesday (May 13, 2025), the Minister directed the officials to integrate Departments such as the Skill Development Corporation, Society for Employment Generation and Enterprise Development in Andhra Pradesh (SEEDAP) and Overseas Manpower Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (OMCAP) into one cohesive framework and design a single digital platform to effectively connect youth with industries and track skill training and employment generation sector-wise.

Mr. Lokesh said action plans for each district should be made based on local industrial potential. For instance, Kurnool can be developed into renewable energy hub, Chittoor and Kadapa-electronics manufacturing hub, Godavari districts-aqua industry hub, Anantapur- automobile manufacturing and Prakasam-biofuel hub. He wanted the officials to align skill training programmes with these industrial needs.

Emphasising on infrastructure-linked skill training, he asked the officials to train youth to capitalise on opportunities created by major infrastructure projects like Bhogapuram Airport, Amaravati capital and international airports and provide them training in world-class construction skills.

To strengthen vocational education in Polytechnics and Intermediate colleges, the Minister said curriculum should be upgraded in collaboration with reputed industries to align with national and international job standards and suggested revamping the engineering curriculum along with Intermediate education.

He said that while addressing the current shortage of skilled workers such as AC mechanics, lift operators and solar technicians, the officials must also concentrate on job creation in high-demand sectors such as IT, aviation, aqua industry, electronics manufacturing and compressed bio-gas.

Secretary, Skill Development and Training Kona Sasidhar, Managing Director and CEO of APSSDC G. Ganesh Kumar, Director of College Education Narayana Bharat Gupta, Director of Intermediate Education Kritika Shukla, Chairman of SEEDAP Deepak Reddy and others were present at the meeting.