BJP urges for courses in food processing at Skills University

Hyderabad : BJP LP leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy welcomed the State government’s decision to set up a Skills University in Mucherla, saying that developing skills among the youth to meet the needs of companies in the private sector is necessary as they are facing difficulties in not getting appropriate resources with the right skills.

Participating in the budget discussions in the State Assembly on Thursday, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was the first to come up with the idea of establishing skill development universities in the country rather than traditional universities.

He said that in 2014, Modi's government set up a separate Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for the first time at the Centre. The main objective of this is to provide skill training to the youth as per the market needs in various fields.

Maheshwar Reddy said that already many states like Gujarat, Haryana, Assam, West Bengal and Delhi have skills universities. However, the previous government in the State failed because it could not establish such a skills university. The previous BRS government failed miserably in identifying the priority sectors for the state.

The government has announced that the number of admissions will gradually increase along with the number of courses. The courses are mainly in pharma, construction, banking, finance services, e-commerce and logistics, retail, animation, visual effects, gaming and comics. Also, each course is partnered with a well-known company in the respective field.

However, he asked the government to clarify whether food processing is included in the courses offered by this university. “We are an agriculture-based state. According to the Socio-Economic Outlook report released by the government, 46 per cent of people in Telangana still depend on agriculture for employment, 21 per cent on manufacturing, and 33 per cent on service sector”.

He said an ideal way to solve unemployment in rural areas is to encourage food processing industries so that the crops grown by the farmers can be saved from wastage.

He recalled that in the Congress Abhaya Hastam manifesto, it has been said that a food processing industrial corridor will be established from Adilabad, Nirmal to Hyderabad. As a part of implementing this guarantee, the government should look into setting up district centres for the skilled university with some courses, he added.

The Congress Manifesto has also promised to set up Nehru Mandal Youth Industrial Parks for youth who are interested in entrepreneurship. The government should also focus on this, he added.

That apart, Alleti said the Congress has mentioned in its manifesto that it will implement a comprehensive scheme instead of the Dalit Bandhu being implemented by the previous government under the name of Ambedkar Abhaya Hastam to provide financial assistance up to Rs 12 lakh for setting up self-employment units for SC and ST families. However, adequate funds have not been allocated for it in the budget. He urged the government to make it clear when it will implement the promise made in the Congress Youth Declaration to provide an interest-free loan facility of Rs 10 lakh for setting up self-employment units for the youth.

Later, addressing at the media point, the BJPLP leader accused that the BRS had destroyed the State for 10 years and that Congress is resorting to corruption and blocking the BJP in raising important issues.