AP will be in No 1 position in academic sector: Lokesh

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh will be taken to number one position in the country in the education sector, declared minister for education, IT and electronics Nara Lokesh here on Thursday.

Inaugurating the International Higher Education Fair (IHEF) on the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) campus here jointly being organised by VIT and the state government, Lokesh felt that the youth should focus themselves to be job creators rather than looking for employment opportunities. The Minister for Education flagged off a driverless van, a drone and a robot on this occasion. Addressing the meeting of an elite gathering later, Lokesh gave a call to the youth to set up start-up companies taking advantage of the latest technology as the AP Innovation Society is ready to extend all possible cooperation and assistance for such entrepreneurs. In fact, seed fund with Rs 250 crore has been created for this purpose, he added.

The IT minister said that the youth should move forward with the single goal of achieving success. “I too have worked with the World Bank in 2005 after doing my MBA from Stanford University. I too faced several ups and downs like anyone else,” Lokesh recalled.

Observing that he is totally committed to achieve his goals, Lokesh said that the youth should take him as an example.

Chancellor of VIT (AP) Dr G Viswanathan felt an immediate need for increasing the budgetary estimates in the country for education. Vice-Chancellor Dr SV Kota Reddy, Registrar Jagadeesh Chandra Murugan, International Relations coordinator Goswamy, Prof Reethu and others participated in the programme.