Create jobs, Chandrababu Naidu tells students

Visakhapatnam: Reaching out to students, a constituency he cannot afford to ignore in an election year, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday called upon them to strive to become entrepreneurs and create jobs to help others.

Speaking at the second edition of the Global Competitiveness for Capacity Building - Gnana Bheri - at Andhra University Engineering College grounds here, the Chief Minister advised the students to utilise the resources provided by the state government to chart their lives. "This is the right time for you to become entrepreneurs and researchers as the government is providing full support to you," Naidu said.

Thousands of students from various universities and higher educational institutions participated in the one-day workshop. Naidu said that though Gnana Bheri is not related to politics, every youth must be aware of what is happening in the state and the country. Everyone should have a dream and tenacity to work to reach their destinations. Talking about himself, Naidu said that he dreamed to become an MLA during his PG studies.

Similarly, every student should have a goal and work towards it. The students should realise there is no age limit to acquire multiple skills and to compete in the digital era. Lately students from Andhra Pradesh were excelling in mathematics, information technology and communication skills in English which is a good sign for a rising state like AP, Naidu said.

Speaking about Andhra University's history, the Chief Minister said that its students scaled news heights in every sector. Andhra University is now competing with international institutions, he added.

Turning his attention to BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said that it was not helping the state in in its endeavour to find its feet. The Centre was releasing funds in fits and starts much against the spirit of AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014. 

He said that he was trying to complete the Polavaram project in a record time. Already 57 per cent of works of the project have been completed, he said and carped the Centre for delay in creating a separate railway zone for AP with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters.

Reverting to his favourite subject of the need for increase in population, he pointed out that if it remained stagnant any longer it would be harmful to the state and the country. He stressed the need for increase in population so that new blood would come or the population of the aged would outnumber that of the young.