A.P. government aiming at welfare schemes that lead to jobs, livelihoods: Kolusu

Minister for Information and Public Relations and Housing, Kolusu Parthasarathy, said that the NDA government in the State was aiming at welfare measures which not only improve the lives of the beneficiaries, but also ensure employment and livelihoods. The huge investments being secured for the State are a step in that direction, he added.

Speaking at a meet-the-press event at the Press Club, here, on Tuesday, the Minister said the government was also planning to hold a skill census to identify the skill gaps and accordingly provide necessary training for the State’s youth.

He expressed confidence that youngsters would be able to acquire the necessary skill sets and get placed in the units of various companies that are expected to reach commissioning stage by 2027-28. Stating that investments worth ₹8.29 lakh crore have already been grounded in the State and MoUs inked for another ₹13.5 lakh crore at the recent Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam, he hoped that this would result in creation of 20 lakh jobs.

The Minister said that the coalition government had spent nearly ₹50,000 crore for NTR Bharosa pensions in the last 18 months. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has targeted to reduce the electricity charges to ₹1.20 per unit in the next five years, and has already succeeded in bringing it to ₹4.80-4.90 from the earlier ₹5.19 per unit.

Of the 18.5 lakh houses sanctioned for the poor, the previous YSRCP government had completed only 6.5 lakh. The NDA government completed 3.2 lakh houses so far and another 5.5 lakh were expected to be completed by July 2026, he said.

Defending the PPP model for medical colleges, he said it was already being implemented in various other States and would help ensure 50% of seats on merit basis with a fee of ₹15,500 for students from the State, as against only 35% seats made available earlier due to the policies of the YSRCP government.

Mr. Parthasarathy also accused the YSRCP government of abandoning irrigation projects initiated by the earlier TDP government with a vengeful attitude.