Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy unveiled on New Year's Day his vision for skilling Telangana, which, he said, would compete with not just other states in the country but also other countries in making strides in industry and service sectors with the active support of industrial giants Tata, Mahindra and Century.
The seeds of skilling will begin with the Jyothiba Phule Policy Studies and Research on Social Justice and Empowerment Centre, an apex council that will be headed by the Chief Minister, with eminent personalities from all walks of life as members.
The council, which will be designed along the lines of the National Advisory Council headed by veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi during the United Progressive Alliance regime, will focus on policymaking as well as implementation mechanisms that aim at empowering youth and making them employable, both domestic and globally.
State departments dealing with education, welfare residential schools, labour and employment and health will closely work with the centre.
In an informal chat with mediapersons on Monday, the Chief Minister said 10 skill universities would be set up by Tata, Mahindra and Century, for which the state government will allot land.
“They design the curriculum and the state will monitor admissions and other regulatory issues. The revolutionary change will be a grant of degree for skill-based courses, which, hitherto, were treated as diploma courses. Pass-outs can appear for any competitive exam or settle down in a skill-based job,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the availability of skilled professionals would prove an advantage in attracting industries to the state.
The Jyothiba Phule centre will be coordinating with international agencies and foreign governments on employment opportunities and the appointment of Telangana youths in suitable positions abroad. “For instance, there is a huge demand for construction workers in Israel. There is demand for trained nursing professionals in domestic as well as international sectors. Countries like Germany and Japan have been looking for skilled professionals,” he said.
Revanth Reddy said the Centre would also organise motivational lectures at Praja Bhavan and make use of the expertise of academicians like Prof. Hara Gopal, Prof. Kodandaram and former bureaucrats like R.S. Praveen Kumar and A. Murali.
“Why not?” he said, when a reporter sought to know if he would be open to utilising the services of the state BSP president. “I am very positive and recognise his contribution to welfare residential schools,” Revanth pointed out.
The Jyothiba centre will be functioning from the Chief Minister’s camp office, built by his predecessor K. Chandrasekhar Rao, as part of ‘Pragati Bhavan’ and now rechristened as ‘Praja Bhavan’.
