New Delhi, October 14
Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Minister Nara Lokesh on Sunday attended the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) that kicked off with its Leadership Summit 2024 in New Delhi.
The summit saw the participation of representatives from both nations belonging to various sectors, such as defence, clean energy and trade, to strengthen the dynamic partnership between the two nations.
As the Minister of Human Resources Development, IT Electronics and Communications in Andhra Pradesh, Lokesh spoke about issues ranging from education to skill development.
In a discussion with Virat Bhatia, who is the Managing Director for Apple in India, Lokesh emphasised the Andhra government's plan to conduct a skill census, which he said "is one of its kind in the world."
Elaborating the process, he explained how the government plans on going door-to-door to understand the skillsets people possess, and, based on that, plan our interventions for families. This will involve micro-targeting to ensure precise and effective outcomes."
The Andhra Pradesh government has launched India's first-ever skill census pilot project, which aims to assess skill levels through a door-to-door survey.
Its primary objective is to identify the skills of the youth and provide necessary development to improve employment opportunities.
The government has committed to creating 2 million jobs in both the public and private sectors over five years, taking significant steps in this direction.
With plans to link industries with polytechnic colleges, create job opportunities in ITI colleges, and hold monthly job fairs in each district. The Skill Census will gather data on unemployment, skills, age, and preferred job locations, helping to create a comprehensive approach to improving employment prospects.
Touching upon the education sector and the ambitions for the future, he shared a positive experience he had as a student at Stanford University.
He touched upon how the absence of inviligators during final exams taught him the importance of fostering character and integrity within the educational sphere.
Expressing the larger vision at hand, he shared the ambitious project government is taking up in the city of Amravati to compete with global capitals. He said, "Amravati is set to become India's premier world-class city, powered by green energy and featuring innovative systems such as district cooling, all while embracing deep technological integration."
Amaravati Capital City Project is an ambitious project being taken up by the state government in partnership with Singapore to develop the city into a leading global capital.
According to the State Government's press release, "Amaravati is envisioned to be a People's Capital' built around sustainability and livability principles. The new capital will be a center of economic activity, will create a range of jobs and will provide affordable and quality housing. Sustainability, efficient management and optimum utilization of resources will form an important pillar of this new capital."
With discussions from various leaders underway during the Leadership Summit, USISPF is dedicated towards strengthening the US-India partnership.