Chittoor set to be knowledge hub

Tirupati: To motivate youth to take up various activities and provide them skill development training, the State government has embarked on setting up of ‘Yuva Bhavans’ in every district of the State. 

The Youth Services department is planning to make these bhavans as knowledge hubs and develop them as conventional centres where all activities relating to youth welfare and empowerment at district-level will take place.

Each Yuva Bhavan will be built with an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore for which the District Collectors have been asked to identify and alienate 2 acres of land in favour of the Youth Services department. In several districts, the land was already identified.

In Chittoor district, the Yuva Bhavan has been proposed to build at PVKN Degree College grounds as the college management has passed the resolution and handed over two acres of land to the authorities long back.

All the approvals have been accorded already and the works will commence very soon. Till now, it was kept in abeyance as the officials tried to set up the facility in Tirupati where they find more youth activity in view of number of Universities and other prestigious educational institutions. 

However, the district administration wrote to the Central government to allot land near youth hostel in Tirupati of Yuva Bhavan. Alternatively, the department of Youth Services has considered the Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) campus to house the facility.

But, now it was decided to go ahead with the original plan of building the Bhavan at PVKN Degree College grounds in Chittoor. In the second phase, two more Yuva Bhavans at divisional level will be set up at Tirupati and Madanapalle.

For the facility at Chittoor, financial, technical and administrative sanctions have already been secured and District Collector PS Pradyumna has selected AP Education and Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation (APEWIDC) to execute the project, said SETVEN CEO S Lakshmi. 

Speaking to The Hans India, she said that concerned Executive Engineer has been working on the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and once it is ready ground-breaking ceremony will be held. “As of now, we are working to hold that ceremony during ‘Nava Nirmana Deeksha’ that starts from June 2, as instructed by the Collector,” she averred. 

With this facility, youth will have a venue to conduct various programmes along with accommodation. The proposed Bhavans can accommodate about 500 youth and make them to participate in any activity. These buildings will use solar energy and will be equipped with all infrastructures. 

Facilities for recreation, counselling, e-library and computer lab with internet will also be provided. Forums, debates, seminars and workshops on various contemporary issues may be held there. Yoga hall, gymnasium, indoor games and other attractions will also be there, she added.

By V Pradeep Kumar