MP Sathish Babu lays foundation for Rs 5.30 crore skill development centre in Kakinada
Kakinada, Oct 5 (TNT): Rajya Sabha member Sana Sathish Babu laid the foundation stone for a skill development centre at the ITI premises here on MOnday, with Rs 5.30 crore sanctioned from the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).
Speaking on the occasion, Sathish said the proposed `Skill, Start Up and Bharat Hub’ would focus on providing skill training to unemployed youth and creating employment opportunities.
He said a household survey conducted in Kakinada district three years ago showed that around 80 per cent of respondents wanted greater focus on employment.
After becoming a Rajya Sabha member, he took up the idea of establishing a skill development centre with the support of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, he said.
The MP said local MLAs had supported the proposal and encouraged him to take up the initiative instead of seeking MPLADS funds for conventional works such as roads and drains.
The proposed centre would be developed as a hybrid skill and incubation facility in line with the Chief Minister’s vision of “One Home-One Entrepreneur”, with an objective of enabling at least one entrepreneur from each household, he said.
The project is estimated to cost between Rs 15 crore and Rs 20 crore. The first phase will focus on the skill development centre, while hostels will be constructed in the second phase to accommodate trainees from distant areas.
Sathish said discussions had been held with representatives of Divis Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, AM Green and Coromandel Fertilisers to align training programmes with industry requirements and facilitate employment.
Training would also be offered in areas including artificial intelligence, cyber security, web development, drone technology, agri-tech, green energy, food processing, aquaculture, and oil and gas, he said.
He said training had already commenced in local colleges instead of waiting for the completion of the proposed centre.
Around 35 youth were trained in Jawali five months ago by trainers from Bengaluru, with the trainees subsequently provided employment.
The MP said the initiative aimed to provide employment to 1,000 youth every year and help 100 people become entrepreneurs.
District Collector M N Harendhira Prasad, MLCs Karri Padmasri and Perabathula Rajasekharam, Urban MLA Vanamadi Kondababu, Rural MLA Pantham Nanaji, Peddapuram MLA Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, Prathipadu MLA Varupula Satyaprabha and DCCB Chairman Tummala Ramaswamy were among those present.
TNT TMR
