First meeting of ministerial subcommittee on jobs targets creation of 2 million jobs

Vijayawada:The Ministerial Subcommittee, established to focus on the creation of 2 million jobs, held its inaugural meeting at Undavalli on Friday.

Nara Lokesh, Minister for Education and IT and chairperson of the panel, emphasized the need for collective efforts from all sectors to achieve this objective.

Senior officials from various government departments were present. Lokesh was joined by tourism minister Kandula Durgesh and chief secretary K Vijayanand, who provided guidance on the discussions.

Minister Lokesh said that during the recent elections, the alliance parties formulated a manifesto with the pledge of creating 2 million jobs within five years.

The inspiration for this promise came from a conversation Lokesh had with a woman in Gangadhara Nellore during his "Yuva Ghalam" padayatra (march), the meeting was told.

The woman expressed her aspirations for better opportunities after losing her husband, underscoring the need for jobs for her two children.

Lokesh asserted that the coalition manifesto was crafted based on grassroots experiences rather than isolated discussions. As part of this initiative, a cabinet subcommittee has been established to ensure coordination among government departments. He proposed regular meetings every 15 days to track investments and job opportunities.

He acknowledged that bringing in investments is not an easy task and requires time, while industrialists are increasingly looking for guarantees regarding governance. The previous government had canceled Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and many industries had been shifted to neighbouring states, creating a need to restore those businesses to the state, he said.

Lokesh said that the Economic Development Board (EDB) will act as a single point of contact for investments. He reiterated the importance of collaboration to ensure that no investment is lost to neighboring states.